


Scuff

by WhoLenny



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Cheryl is a horny mess, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/F, Kind of AU but also not at all, None of the blackhood or the angsty shit, Slow Burn, This is going to be long, for real, light angst for choni, like long as shit, metaphors on metaphors, profound romance, prose on prose, smut with substance, so much plot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-03
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-05-17 13:06:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 45
Words: 103,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14832821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhoLenny/pseuds/WhoLenny
Summary: Cheryl Blossom had had two scuffs mar her young life thus far. The first, had been her shoe at 6 years old, scuffed by defying her mother's orders and strict social convention. The second, had been the beautiful, and tragically fast-removed, Heather scuffed by a first-love and sexual deviance. So, here she sat, as she gazed innocuously upon the pink-hair cascading in waves down a slender back and the gleaming eyes of a serpent peering up at her from the back of her jacket. Toni Topaz. A serpent. A vixen. And, Cheryl thought with a dizzying elation she hadn’t felt in years, a brand new scuff on her life.OrCheryl is an utter and desperate horny mess, lusting after Toni from afar. Until Toni is not so far away at all. In fact, she's very, very close... and it's not just lust that they're feeling.





	1. Control Yourself, Cheryl.

**Author's Note:**

> This will be a long one. Many words, many chapters. Some will be smutty, others will not. But there's also plot, so much plot. Feel free to dip in and out as you please and leave whatever the fuck you like in the comments. Have a great day, I hope you enjoy.

Cheryl has to be in control. For a Blossom, perfection is an obligation. One looks one’s best. One achieves one’s best, and one does it all without comment, objection or _deviance_.

She had learned from a young age the consequences of deviating from these strictly bound rules.

She and Jason had just turned six years old. It had been a bitterly cold December morning and the two siblings had been made to stand outside the grand mahogany doors of Thornhill dressed in complementary garb - too stiff and too expensive to ever truly be considered clothes suitable for children – to await the arrival of relatives for Christmas. Jason, in his infantile boredom, had strayed from the step to kick a chunk of gravel along the vast driveway, a defiant smile smudging his lips. Cheryl, never one to be bested, had taken this as an invitation to do the same, swinging her little leg behind her powerfully and belting another rock – a _bigger_ rock, she might add - across the powdery stones and far beyond that of where Jason’s had come to rest. She turned back to him with a triumphant grin only to see him staring down at her shoe, his face significantly pale even for their fair complexion.

Her eyes followed his and she looked down at her tiny, neat little red patent Mary Jane and saw, much to her horror, a scuff. Right on the tiny, shiny toe where she’d struck her winning missile.

A scuff.

Perfection is an _obligation_.

When her mother had stepped out to give them a familiarly regimented inspection with her stoic, judgmental eyes, she had spotted the scuff immediately and Cheryl hadn’t fully regained her appetite for 2 weeks with the guilt and the fear and the shame that swam in her gut from Penelope’s harshly worded penance.

“ _Control_ yourself, Cheryl.”

As Cheryl grew older, she found herself acquiring another scuff. A bigger, far more serious, far more _uncontrollable_ scuff and it had arrived onto the shiny, red patent perfection that was Cheryl’s life, in the form of Heather. To Cheryl, who knew nothing of how to express her feelings properly, boys were pretty and girls were pretty, but, Heather was beautiful.

The Blossom family dealt in many things, most of which unsavoury and morally questionable, however, they never dealt in love. The only love Cheryl had ever felt was from her beloved JJ and the way she felt for Heather had been similar, but different. She knew she loved her and, when they had been huddled together beneath Cheryl’s silk sheets late one night and the other girl had whispered into the darkness,

“I think I love you, Cheryl.”

She knew she was loved in return.

Cheryl had wanted to kiss her, so she did, and finally, she had felt at peace. She felt in control.  
However, much like the polish with which the nanny had salved Cheryl’s little shoe, Penelope Blossom had eradicated this scuff too.

Permanently.

“Enough insolence. Enough rebellion. Enough _deviance_.” She had hissed into Cheryl’s 14 year old face.

“ _Control_ yourself, Cheryl.”

 

 

 

So, here Cheryl sat her spine as rigid as her upbringing. One beautifully sculpted, long, pale leg draped gracefully over the other, brightly lacquered and neatly clipped nails strumming on her textbook idly.

She’d been staring for the better part of 20 minutes, the History lesson in which she sat completely forgotten, intelligent brown eyes taking in every detail as she raked them curiously over the body of a girl diagonally to her left. Toni Topaz. A serpent. A vixen. And, Cheryl thought with a dizzying elation she hadn’t felt in years, a brand new scuff on her life.

Her face was the prettiest thing Cheryl had ever seen. Growing up as a member of one of the country’s wealthiest families had provided Cheryl with many pretty things in her lifetime. But, as she gazed innocuously upon the pink-hair cascading in waves down a slender back and the gleaming eyes of a serpent peering up at her from the back of her jacket, nothing that she’d ever had, she pondered, was as pretty as this.

With a small, elegantly quiet sigh, a product of her breeding pedigree, she noted the strong lines of Toni’s jaw. The smooth perfection of her darker skin, the light speckling of freckles across her face and nose like the shells of the delicious eggs Chef would serve for breakfast as a child. The thick fullness of her dark lashes which rested sumptuously against the girl’s cheek as she blinked; a cheek that, Cheryl wondered with a well-hidden smile, would no doubt feel wonderfully soft beneath her own beautifully painted red lips. And, oh. The lips. The pretty curve of the girl’s mouth, the soft smile caught at the edges as she doodled on her page. The slightly chapped texture of them that Cheryl spent odd moments of the day imagining was pressed against hers. The delicious plumpness of the lower. She wanted to touch it. Kiss it. Bite it. A small pink tongue darted out to wet it in concentration and Cheryl felt her blood pressure drop, her eyes honing in on it as she gripped the edge of her desk and clamped her own lower lip between her teeth.

“ _Control_ yourself, Cheryl.” She heard her mother echo in her head. She ignored it.

Her childhood had been a museum of repression but her mind had always been free. Freer, even, than the canvas page on which she would let her creativity pour out with each immaculate drawing she produced. She could think whatever she wanted inside her own mind. And she wanted to think about Toni.

Perfection.

“For the _third_ time, Miss Blossom. Cheryl.”

Cheryl’s head snapped forward to see her teacher, Mr Dullard – by name **and** nature – staring back at her expectantly. She was still gripping the desk with white knuckles and she found that her previously gracefully placed legs were squeezed together tightly. She blinked, her pupils no doubt fully dilated. Her incessant curiosity had got the better of her once again and she feared she looked as if she was experiencing a bout of painful gas or a menstrual cramp, rather than curious arousal.

She wasn’t sure which was worse.

“The answer, please.” Dullard prompted, motioning to the board. Cheryl’s eyes follow his hand and she recovered herself instantly, thankful that she had completed this part of the syllabus already in her own private study time.

“Propaganda, Mr Dullard.” She replied confidently, a prim smirk on her signature lips.

“And to what end, Miss Blossom?”

“To control the masses, of course.” Cheryl snuck a quick glance at the object of her study, pink hair falling around the girl's face as she scribbled down the answer in her book. Yes. Control.


	2. Cookies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy this. Cheryl masturbates.

Archie Andrews was a handsome boy. Cheryl had always thought so. She was attracted to him easily, with his broad chest and chiselled face. He had a kind heart too, which was both endearing and foreign to her, and she saw a lot of Jason in him. He played football, he was Student Body President, and he was polite. Her mother would approve.

But he was boring. God, how he was boring.

The one time they’d ever shared a kiss Cheryl had initiated it just to shut him up. Unfortunately, as he sat at the lunch table with her and the rest of the gang, one arm gesticulating wildly as he spoke and the other cradled around his girlfriend, Veronica, Cheryl was unable to lean across and silence his banalities with her mouth.

Not that she wanted to anyway. Not anymore.

Blocking out Archie’s fifth rendition of,

“So this guy is like, _so_ huge!”

She was painfully aware, instead, of the table next to them. The occupants strewn around, on top, across and every which way possible rather than just sitting on the seats like the Northsiders. They each wore a Serpent insignia on their jackets proudly, gabbing away at each other with food in their mouths and throwing balled up napkins like apes.

In the middle of it all sat the queen, the unspoken leader of the little student faction of The Serpents, Toni Topaz. Her toned, little legs tucked tightly beneath her as she rolled her eyes at the antics of a taller boy.

“Sweets, knock it off, you’re in public.” She drawled at him. Cheryl smiled. Her voice was pretty too. 

Cheryl had glanced briefly at their table as she’d entered with her own friends and had resisted the urge for a second look ever since. She was proud of herself. The epitome of control. However, she couldn’t have felt further from it.

It had all been going so well. So normal. She patted her mouth daintily upon finishing her sandwich and turned to look at Betty as she began talking about Polly’s twins, the blonde’s mouth tilting into an affectionate smile as her soft lispy voice regaled a sweet tale about Juniper’s accident with some mashed carrot.

Cheryl had been engrossed; they were her niece and nephew after all. That was until she had overhead a snippet of conversation from their Southside neighbours.

“No, Tiny. I’m serious. You’ve gotta taste this, this bougie fuckin’ cafeteria has better food than most places in the Southside. Trust me, Toni, it’s the best cookie I’ve ever eaten. Here, take a bite.”

What followed next, Cheryl would never forget.

She had refrained from turning her head, despite the mention of a certain pink haired girl, and had assumed Toni had eaten the cookie.

She was correct.

A deep, raspy, contented moan, starting as a low vibrating hum stretching out silkily like tempered chocolate on a marble slab and fluttering off into a panted, breathy whimper floated out above the ruckus.

“ _Fuuuuck._ ”

How good that cookie really must have been. Oh, to be that fucking cookie.

Cheryl had gulped, her legs squeezing together again instantly. She felt as though she’d been pushed underwater, baptised into a new sexual awakening in the middle of the cafeteria. Although, truthfully, not a _new_ awakening to her at all.

That’s what it must sound like. That’s what _it_ must sound like. Her breath left her. That’s what **_Toni_** must sound like when-

She felt a flush of red stain over her face and chest, sucking her lip into her mouth with wide eyes and feeling a sudden urge to rub her hands up her thighs. She refrained.

**_Control_ yourself, Cheryl.**

“Cheryl. Cheryl? Are you ok?”

“I’m fine, Josie.” She nodded, pressing her lips together in a grateful smile. “Cramps.”

 

 

 

Cheryl’s fingers hovered over the keys of her laptop, chewing nervously on her lip. Once again her curious mind had led her astray.

It was almost one o’clock in the morning, her mother and Nana Rose both long retired to their respective beds on the other side of Thistlehouse.

She hadn’t been able to sleep. She hadn’t been able to do much, as a matter of fact, save replaying a certain cafeteria incident with a certain Serpent over and over in her mind.

Eventually, sighing, she’d gone to lock her bedroom door, tiptoeing back to the bed and pulling her computer onto her lap. Her breathing shallow with anticipation.

She needed to focus. To regain her control.

Someone as sexually curious as Cheryl, but simultaneously repressed from ever letting her curiosities leave the confines of her own mind, was well adept at taking matters into her own hands - quite literally - to relieve the tension. The only time her upper class fingers would ever be put to work.

She gazed down at the explicit clips flickering repeatedly in front of her, the light from her laptop illuminating her flushed cheeks in the pitch black darkness of her bedroom. She’d done this before, only a few times though, keen to explore what the internet had for someone like her, someone who liked…. _Both._ But, right now, she found her fingers remained muted. She was at a loss for what to search.

Men? Perhaps. Women? Getting warmer. Women on Men? Overdone. Men on Men? Uncharted territory. Women on Women? Yes. Yes, tonight, that would do nicely.  

Licking her dry lips, she scrolled impatiently through the video choices, observant eyes drinking in the adult material.

Next page.

No, next page.

Next.

Next.

No, no, NO.

Sighing again, she huffed out her bated breath and slammed the laptop shut, pushing it away like the disappointment it was to her. Nothing had piqued her interest.

She laid back, red hair falling gracefully onto her goose down pillow and closed her eyes, sucking in a deep breath through her nose. She thought back over the day. Kevin spilling his coffee in the parking lot. Mr Newman saying orgasm instead of organism in Biology, much to the amusement of everyone. Veronica telling her about Archie’s worryingly large collection of potato chip packets in his car. Lunchtime, cafeteria. Serpents. Cookies. Toni. _That._

No, she couldn’t. Could she?

Slowly, eyes still closed, she slipped a hand down her body, pausing to squeeze her breast and biting her lip around a small sigh.

Her fingers hadn’t had to work too hard, nor for too long, that night pumping herself hurriedly, back arching high off the bed, a frown on her brow and her lips parted blissfully as she stifled her moans. She gripped the decadent sheets beneath her, thinking of soft lips and pink tongues and wavy hair to match. That glimpse of abs beneath her Vixens shirt at practice, that godforsaken Serpent jacket that fit so well and smelled of wood fires. Of history class and cafeterias and fucking, stupid, delicious cookies. She finally got what she was searching for, Toni’s moan playing over and over in her head as she let out a final shuddering breath and flopped onto the bed, satiated. She removed her hand, eventually opening her eyes and staring into the darkness, panting.

She’d really just done that. About a girl from _school._ The _prettiest_ girl from school. She smiled.

She could feel it, seeping back into her very veins. Control. There it was.

She had slept very well indeed that night.

 

 


	3. Toni Topaz Swings Both Ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting closer, folks. I promise. Muchos sexual tension heading this way.

She had heard some rumours circling around the school, but as someone who spent the majority of their 17 years _creating_ rumours, Cheryl knew better than to believe them.

Apparently, Toni Topaz _swung both ways._

She couldn’t have stopped the swoop of excitement that rushed through her chest upon hearing the news, two girls gossiping about it in the locker room, even if she’d wanted to.

She knew there was the kiss with Jughead, an odd mixture of emotions and hormones and confusion on behalf of both parties it seems. Not regrettable, but not destined to be.

With no other information on the girl, and heteronormative expectation weighing down on her heavily, Cheryl had assumed that Toni was straight. Ironic, really. Silly, even, considering her own feelings.

Nonetheless, she wouldn’t believe it until she knew for sure. Straight from the source. From the girl’s own lips. Pretty, pretty lips.

 

 

 

“Not that I would really lend it much brain fodder, _Ginger._ But Dear Cousin Betty here just came strikingly close to breaking her masculine, muscular, oddly circumferenced neck. Inherited from her equally oddly circumferenced father. Pay _attention._ Or you’re _cut.”_ Cheryl had chirped brightly, her light tone biting around the edges and belying her irritated expression.

Betty had rolled her eyes, glancing at Veronica, unsure of whether to be grateful for the concern for her wellbeing or offended by the bizarre and numerous insults laden throughout Cheryl’s admonishment.

Toni, Cheryl noted, had scoffed a laugh and, holding up an apologetic hand to Betty for her outburst, continued to giggle along with Josie. Interesting.

“Listen up, Vixens. This Friday night, Archie Andrews, boyfriend of our beloved sister-Vixen Veronica, football player, Student Body President and an intellect only comparable to that of _molasses..”_

A dismissive eye roll from Veronica. Another chuckle from Toni.

“…is holding a party after the game. It is compulsory all Vixen members attend- I said _compulsory_ , Ginger. I see that hand going up. Collect your insulin in your _own_ time.”

Cheryl turned to Toni then, her breath catching in her chest lightly and her lower lip begging instinctively to crush itself between her teeth. She resisted the urge to look her up and down for all of two seconds, succumbing in the end and opting to pass it off as a power move.

Toned calves, slim thighs, narrow waist, _that butt God **help** her, _tight abdomen, round breasts and a bright, white smile plastered to a face of clear skin, dotted with sweat from practice.

Shit. This must be what it feels like to eat the cafeteria cookies.

**_Control_ yourself, Cheryl.**

This time she said it to herself. Out of true necessity.

“Toni. As our newest member you will, of course, be expected to partake in the initiation ‘Dirty Yard’ so prepare yourself.” She smirked, watching one of Toni’s perfect eyebrows perk up. Wow. Pretty.

“What’s... I have to do what?”

“It’s a mixture of everyone’s drinks and … sometimes other things, all poured into a yard stick which you then drink as fast as possible.” Veronica explained with a grin, glancing at the serpent.

Toni nodded, shrugging one shoulder.

“Sounds gross. I’m down.”

“Yes, it is. You _will_ vomit.” Cheryl added with a tight smile, clapping her hands dismissively. “Shower time, ladies.”

She hung back, stalling to collect her sweater and looked up to see Toni retreating to the locker room. Her eyes drifted to her backside briefly. She wanted great big greedy _handfuls_ of it _._ Before she could stop it a breathy moan had left her lips. Thank God she’d been alone. Control was slipping.

She caught up with her, taking in the smell of her sweat mixed with traces of her deodorant from earlier and found herself completely intoxicated. Was there anything about this girl that wasn’t utterly, intrinsically, absolutely, quintessentially fucking _sexy_?

Oh, Cheryl. Calm down.

“Toni, about the party.” She started, feeling a smile tug at the edges of her red lips as she watched the girl grin at her. _Cute._

“It is, of course, a Vixens and Bulldogs event, however, there’s always a multitude of different people there, a complete socio-economic cross section in fact, unfortunately.” She frowned, classist undertones leaving a bitter taste in her mouth.

“What I mean to say is, if you wanted to bring your boyfriend...” Her heart was pounding. It was difficult enough wondering if she even liked women, let alone if she already had a partner.

“…or girlfriend. Any partner. That is allowed.” She finished with a confident nod, her lips set in a thin line.

Toni regarded her for a moment and whether her vision had been lust-addled or not, Cheryl was _certain_ she saw interest in those lovely brown eyes.

“Well, that’d be sweet.” Toni nodded, “if I had either one of those.” She chuckled, flashing her teeth in a brilliant smile. Oh so brilliant and lovely and pretty and sexy oh- she was still talking.

“But I’m single at the moment. Plenty of _ex_ -boyfriends...”

Cheryl’s throat felt tight, trying her best to swallow her impatient, ‘ARE YOU BI?’ that threatened to spill out.

“…and _plenty_ of _ex_ -girlfriends. I mean, fuck, plenty.” She chuckled, rolling her eyes.

As lovely and raspy and deep and musical as Toni’s voice was to Cheryl’s ears she heard no more of her words as they were spoken to her, concentrating instead on staying fucking _conscious_ and keeping her hands to her damn self. She did. She does. She likes _both._

Oh, happy day.

“…so yeah, thanks anyway though, Bombshell.” Toni gave her one last lingering look, nodding her head with a closed mouth smile and left Cheryl alone in the gym.

Cheryl slept _very_ well that night too.

 

 

 

By the time Cheryl was 15 years old she could perfectly identify 55 different types of wine by flavour, soil, price and body. It hadn’t occurred to her, until she’d mentioned it to Kevin during one study period, that this wasn’t a perfectly normal thing to be able to do. It was a Blossom thing to do. Perfection, as she well knew by now, was an obligation.

“And a Sauternes is for?” Her father murmured, swilling his sample in his glass and placing the rim under the edge of his nose to smell the bouquet.

“ _Dessert,_ daddy. You’re giving Jason all the easy ones!” Cheryl huffed, pouting from her position opposite.

“Cheryl, control yourself. Don’t interrupt.” Her mother had hissed, frowning at her.

“What about beer? Can I try a beer?” Jason had grinned mischievously, trying his luck. Both Clifford and Penelope were clearly disgusted and outraged in equal parts, but they buffered their reaction because it was Jason. Sweet JJ. The boy. The son. The _favourite._

“The taste of beer is the taste of the working class. You would not like it. Either of you.” Clifford clipped, glancing to his wife who had remained stoically unimpressed.

“Listen carefully to my words as they leave my mouth as they are not to be disobeyed, nor will they ever be repeated.” Penelope said carefully, lowly, her eyes trained on her children from across the large rosewood dining table. Her lips had been set in a thin line, her jaw tight, barely opening to allow the words to hiss out at them like steam.

“Blossoms. Do not. Drink. _Beer._ ” She warned, the words themselves spat out like seeds. “It is _beneath us.”_

 

 

 

Cheryl sipped her 6th beer of the night, a pleasant buzz thrumming through her. Last time she was here in this house she’d gate-crashed with the help of Chuck and made out with Moose in Mayoral Candidate Fred Andrew’s living room.

The time before that she’d been particularly drunk and had spent 45 minutes in a closet with a girl from a rival school. Cheryl had spent most of that time whimpering against her mouth. She hadn’t let the other girl’s lips leave hers the whole time, save for when they attacked her neck, marking her pale skin like an inkblot test of hickeys. Or love bites as Veronica liked to call them. Or,

“ _Disgusting_ marks on your neck, Cheryl!” as Penelope liked to call them.

Cheryl had left the closet after their time together, swearing the girl to secrecy, earning,

“I’m wasted and I don’t even know you, babe,” in response.  She wasn’t fazed by the idea of people finding out she liked kissing girls. She was merely mortified that said girl was from _Greendale._

So there was a trend, it seemed. A correlation between the amount Cheryl drank and the likelihood of making out with someone in Archie Andrew’s house. So, as she threw back her head, draining her cup and spying pink hair floating into the kitchen, she hoped it would continue.


	4. Fucking Sexist Bullshit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'Sup, fuckers. Getting closer.

“I have _never_ seen anyone drink the ‘Dirty Yard’ that fast. Especially without throwing it back up!” Jughead lauded, placing his empty beer bottle in the sink and hooking an arm around Toni’s shoulder in congratulations. She returned the hug eagerly.

Cheryl had never wanted to be Jughead Jones until this very moment.

“Did you see it, Bombshell?” Toni beamed, looking to Cheryl expectantly with unfocused eyes. Adorable.

“I saw it.” Cheryl smirked, nodding her head and leaning against the kitchen counter to stop herself from swaying. “I do not impress easily but I must say, Topaz, you seem to do nothing but.”

Where had that come from? She decided to go with it, her Dutch courage working in her favour, evidently, scanning her eyes over Toni’s face.

“Wow, now that’s high praise coming from Cheryl ‘Bombshell’ Blossom.” Jughead smirked, eyebrows rising on his baby face. Why was he still here?

“Jones, more drinks? Chop, chop.  We can toast to JJ’s memory, yes?” Cheryl ordered. He couldn’t refuse that.

And he didn’t, nodding understandingly and disappearing into the crowd.

When Cheryl turned back to Toni she almost didn’t catch it. Had it not been for Toni’s inebriation and her slower reactions Cheryl wouldn’t have seen it at all. A look. A lingering look. Of want. Interest. She _knew_ she’d seen it in the gym those few days ago.

**_Control_ yourself, Cheryl.                                                                                                 **

The beer and the noise and the heat from all the bodies and that _look_. Cheryl could barely think.

“Do I really impress you?” Toni smirked, reaching out to run the buttery leather of Cheryl’s jacket between her thumb and finger. It was worth more than everything Toni had ever owned. Had it have been anyone else touching her, Cheryl would have divulged that fact and swatted their filthy hands away. But it was Toni. So Cheryl refrained. Opting instead to glance down at the slim fingers, the ones she’d imagine in place of hers night after night. She felt a blush heat her face.

“Yes.” She replied matter-of-factly. “You do. People often think I have nothing nice to say, but the truth of the matter is I have no problem giving praise when it’s merited. It just so rarely is.”

She looked to Toni with a proud smirk, pleased when big brown eyes immediately dropped to her red lips.

“You’re pretty articulate for a drunk girl.” Toni murmured distantly, a confused frown kinking her brow as she continued to stare at Cheryl’s mouth. Cheryl ran her tongue over her lower lip, watching Toni bite her own in response.

It felt nice to be on the other side of the want. Of the lusting. To know the playing field was levelled and the attraction was mutual, even if the words had yet to be uttered. It felt right. Nice. Peace. Control.

 

 

Cheryl didn’t know what time it was, nor how many people were now filling Archie’s house to capacity, nor, where she’d found the bottle of Fireball. All she did know was that her knee was touching Toni’s as they sat on a step in the back yard together and she could taste the girl’s lip gloss on the rim of the bottle as they passed it back and forth. Her underwear was utterly sodden. If she had been at all shocked at herself she might have managed to feel embarrassed.

“You’re so pretty, Cheryl.”

Toni had said it so casually. So easily. As if she’d merely asked the time. Cheryl had been festering away in a pool of pent up arousal for _weeks_ over how pretty this girl in front of her was and yet here Toni sat, tossing out compliments like confetti. She was so comfortable in herself. So _in control_.

“So are you.” Cheryl knew her words carried more weight. Any compliment from Cheryl Blossom was a rarity. She saw the millisecond of surprise wash over Toni’s face before she smirked, tipping the whiskey past her lips and plopping the bottle into Cheryl’s lap.

“Hell of a body too, Bombshell.” She chuckled, lingering her eyes over Cheryl for just long enough to make her bristle.

 _So do you_. Cheryl wanted to scream, licking her lip lightly and taking a drink as she looked over Toni. _So do **you**. **My God**. You’re so gorgeous. I want you so badly. I think about you when I fucking masturbate for God’s sake. You’re so goddamn **pretty**. I want to put my head between your legs and hear you moan like that day in the cafeteria. I want to taste you and feel you and touch you and bite you and grab you and fuck you and have you. I crave it. I crave **you.**_

She swallowed the alcohol thickly and was about to open her mouth when Toni spoke up again, glancing around at the complete strangers inhabiting the outside space with them.

“You know I don’t understand why everyone thinks this high-school initiation is so hard-core.” She slurred, shrugging. “I mean, I got into a fucking gang. You think I can’t handle drinking at a party?”

Cheryl let a chuckle slip from her lips. She’d never thought about it like that. Toni looked at her, a smile breaking onto her face.

“You’re absolutely right.” Cheryl nodded, her chest bouncing with another laugh. She saw Toni’s attention drop there for a moment before meeting her eyes. “What did you have to do for that anyway? Kill someone?” She teased wryly.

“Nah, everyone does certain stages, recounting the rules, this thing with a snake...” Toni rattled off, waving her hand dismissively. “But then after that, the guys get the shit beat out of them with brass knuckles and the girls do a lap dance. Well, more like a pole dance. I mean, either way, I’m trying to get it banned, fucking sexist bullshit.”

Cheryl was frozen to her seat. Her lips were parted in disbelief and her cloudy eyes were now wide and attentive. She let out a shuddered breath, gripping the neck of the bottle harder and squeezing her legs together. What kind of fucking wet-dream _theatrics_ were her ears playing on her.

“Yes. Male gaze. So damaging. I... me and Josie… I told a janitor once about it. I was…. You did a lap dance?” She breathed out finally, less smoothly than she’d have liked but still charmingly Blossom. The images in her head. No internet video could ever compare.

“Yeah, it was whatever. Hey, did you fall on the way back from the bathroom?” Toni asked distractedly, pointing to Cheryl’s foot, “Your boot, you’ve got a scuff.”

Cheryl dropped her eyes to follow Toni’s. There it was.

A scuff.

She didn’t feel guilt or fear or shame. She didn’t dread the implications. In fact, she quite liked it. It added something, she thought. Flicking her eyes over to Toni’s boots she smiled, biting on her lip to keep from grinning too widely.

“Well look at that,” she purred, “so do you.”


	5. You Lose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seat belt sign is on, folks. Take you seat and buckle up for sexual tension.

It had to be close to 2am. Cheryl couldn’t see the oven clock from her position against the far wall of the kitchen, its numbers blocked by the crowd of bodies in between, and her phone had long since run out of battery. The party was still in full swing. She hadn’t seen a glimpse of anyone she was remotely familiar with for hours, except Toni of course, who had never left her side. In fact, drunk as she was, she couldn’t be sure the people next to her were even speaking English.

“I am _fucking_ wasted.” Toni laughed, raising a beer bottle to her lips. She was wedged against Cheryl, the packed kitchen leaving little to no personal space, and found herself half standing in the pantry. Cheryl had been impressed that Fred Andrews even knew what a pantry was, let alone used one. Of course his was no more than the size of a broom closet whereas hers at Thistlehouse was enormous and the one at Thornhill? Well it had been much, much-

“Are you, Bombshell?”                                                                               

Toni was so close Cheryl could feel the breath of her words on her face. She nodded dumbly, taking a sip of her own beer and blinking a few times. Yes. Yes she was wasted.

“You know you don’t have to stay here with me. Do you want to go home? Or at least find Veronica maybe, I think Betty or Josie or someone was looking for you?” Toni offered. Cheryl could see it was as much a test as it was a genuine suggestion.

“There’s nowhere I’d rather be than right here.” She replied honestly.

“Sweet,” Toni smirked, “Ditto.” She shifted her weight to the other leg as best as she could in the tight space she had and her hip grazed between Cheryl’s thighs, causing Cheryl to close her eyes momentarily and swallow hard. Toni didn’t notice, gazing around the kitchen.

“Let’s play a game, Cheryl.” She suggested with sloppy grin, leaning closer to her to be heard over the music. She smelt warm, her fragrant shampoo clinging in the air and mixing with the earthy yeast of her beer. Cheryl wanted to bottle it.

“What kind of game?”

“We go back and forth, telling each other a secret – a _real_ secret-“ she leaned back to look in Cheryl’s eyes for clarification and it made red stained lips stretch into a smile around the lip of her drink. “-and the person who bails first _loses.”_

_Loses._

Cheryl almost balked at the word. She didn’t. She couldn’t. It wasn’t in her nature. She’d scuffed her little Mary Jane’s to beat her beloved brother. Perfection was an obligation. Cheryl Blossom didn’t lose. She got what she wanted.

“You’re on. But, you first.” She challenged, flicking her eyes down to Toni’s lips playfully, licking her own subconsciously. _God just **touch** me already._ She blinked.

**_Control_ yourself, Cheryl.**

“Ok, that’s only fair I suppose.” Toni nodded, her white teeth coming out to scrape over her bottom lip in thought. Cheryl was practically _vibrating._

“Ok,” Toni started, “I… have glasses for reading. I wear reading glasses.” It was a weak start, Cheryl thought. But it made her lips curve into a smile.

“That’s rather hot,” She smirked coyly, watching Toni scoff a surprised laugh. “I speak fluent French.”

“Wait, what? You do? Cheryl, _that’s_ hot.” Toni insisted, taking a sip of beer. Getting hot in here suddenly it seemed. “I once had a sex dream about Sweet Pea during puberty and it weirded me out so much I couldn’t look him in the eye for days.” Now _that_ was a secret.

“Eww, Toni. He’s like your brother.” Cheryl laughed

“I _know._ ”

“I set fire to the mansion I was raised in.”

A pause.

“I take back what I said about the French, Bombshell. _That_ is hot.” Toni chuckled, shaking her head in disbelief.

Cheryl suddenly felt lighter than she had in years. No judgement. She, Cheryl Blossom, had confessed an action and for the first time in her life it was met with no judgement. She pressed a little closer to Toni.

“My serpent tattoo is on my hip.” Toni practically whispered, her voice dropping, watching Cheryl for a reaction. Cheryl merely gulped.

“I think you’re the prettiest girl in school.” She breathed tentatively, staring at Toni’s mouth.

“I think you’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen, Cheryl.”

Cheryl stopped, searching Toni’s face feverishly for any hint of a smirk, any mirthful intention, anything to suggest disingenuousness.

There was nothing. Her breath was all but a husky pant by now.

“I think about you all the time. _All_ the _time._ ” She whispered with intention, her focus completely enraptured but the slight upward tipping of Toni’s lips.

“I’ve seen you staring at me in Mr Dullard’s class.” Ah. Caught. Cheryl had been so deep into her infatuation she’d actually managed to convince herself that open gawping in public went unnoticed.

“I … really… want to touch you.” There. Cheryl had said it. Was it a secret? A statement of fact? A request for permission? Cheryl thought perhaps all of the above. Toni smirked, and Cheryl watched as she took her beer from her hand and placed it down with her own. She felt Toni ghost her fingers gently along the arm of her expensive jacket. Her touch barely there but making Cheryl shiver nonetheless. Their eyes met and Cheryl saw that look again. _That_ look. The want. The interest. But now it was clear. Overwhelmingly intense. The stuff of Cheryl’s secret night-time fantasies she’d created as she’d fucked herself. She held her breath.

“You can touch me.”

And there it was. The words Cheryl had wanted to hear since the day the Southside rabble had arrived at Riverdale High. _You can touch me._ The nights she’d imagined those words being whispered into her ear. The hours, and days, and _weeks_ of gazing at Toni in the locker room and stealing glances across the cafeteria. **_You can touch me_** _._ It was magical. It was music. It was everything Cheryl desired. But it wasn’t a _secret_.

“You lose.” She breathed, staring wide eyed at the girl in front of her. Even as her nipples hardened beneath her shirt and the heat grew between her legs. Even clouded by the most potent state of arousal she’d ever experienced, she needed to express her triumph.

Perfection was an obligation.

“Yeah, Bombshell.” Toni nodded, clearly as shell shocked with attraction as Cheryl was. That felt good to know. “I guess I do.”

 


	6. Potato Sack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is pretty much all smut. If that's not your thing, no worries. Feel free to ignore this chapter and move on, the story will still flow. Enjoy.

It took Cheryl all of five seconds to back Toni into the pantry behind and gently push the door closed with her hand. She stood in the darkness, her breath barely leaving her body as she made out the outline of Toni, whose breathing was considerably more audible than her own and ragged with anticipation.  

This was really about to happen for her. Cheryl would have finally acquired her third scuff.

She heard a rustle of Toni’s clothing and the fumbling of a hand, followed by a sharp click. Slowly, a dim yellow lightbulb flickered into life above them and Cheryl watched as Toni became illuminated in its soft trajectory. The shadows hit her face glowing almost like that of candle light, and Cheryl found her already sparse amount of breath completely exhausted as it caught in her throat.

Beautiful.

Utterly beautiful.

She stared a moment longer, eyes wide and admiring and mirroring those of the girl in front of her. She was so much shorter than her when Cheryl was in heels, she’d never realised by quite how much.

Toni was being commendably patient with her, standing still after her admission of consent and waiting for Cheryl to make her move whenever she was ready.

“You can touch me too.” Cheryl finally whispered, watching Toni nod in reply.

Do it, Cheryl. _Do it._ Take control.

One second passed.

Two seconds.

Three.

Cheryl sucked in a quiet breath and stepped forward, reaching her hands beneath the serpent jacket and around Toni’s waist to grip pale hands into the back of her shirt tightly. With a measured tug she moved Toni flush against her chest and pressed their lips together in a hard kiss, her eyes fluttering shut as a trembling breath left her nose. Just as soft as she’d imagined. Just as plump. Just as pillowy, dreamy, warm and sumptuous, sticky and saccharine with lip gloss and affection.

Perfection.  True, true perfection. This is what it felt like to be at peace.

She felt Toni’s hands reach for the sides of her face, moaning lightly just like she did all those days ago in the cafeteria. It made Cheryl whimper in return.  She caught Toni’s lower lip as she pulled back, barely a hairsbreadth, and opened her eyes to see her looking at her.

“You’re so pretty.” Cheryl whispered, feeling sweet, chapped lips stretch into a smile against her own.

This time it was Toni who leaned forward to connect them.

Cheryl felt small hands delving gently into her hair and those delicious lips moved dextrously over hers. She turned her head slightly, pulling Toni tighter to her body and moaned breathily as their lips slotted perfectly between each other’s, tugging and sucking and pulling and pressing, over and over, slow and hard. Cheryl’s brow creased into a frown, the bombardment of everything she’d wanted to feel almost torturous. She unballed her fists from Toni’s back and slid her hands slowly down to the backside she’d been admiring for months, opening her palms and caressing it before closing her fingers greedily and taking in her fill.

Both girls let out a moan.

**_Perfect._ **

Something clicked inside Cheryl’s head then, presenting to her clearly that despite the wistful feeling of it all, this was not a dream. This was not fabricated by her imagination. And her mother could not eradicate it. This was real.

She pulled back suddenly, sucking a deep breath in through parted lips and looked down at Toni’s swollen mouth. Gripping her hands into her, Cheryl pulled them backward until she felt her own back collide with a cold stone wall, never letting Toni’s body part from hers. She flicked her eyes up to meet Toni’s and saw the purest look of want peering back at her. Unabashed. Unashamed.

She leaned her head from the wall slightly to catch Toni’s lower lip in her teeth, scraping it slowly with a deep groan. God, she was _obsessed._ Parting her legs, their thighs slipped between one other’s and Cheryl felt Toni press her body completely into hers. She opened her mouth, Toni soon following suit, and rolled her tongue languidly, hungrily around with hers, flicking and teasing and lathing together. She tasted of beer. Her parents had been wrong, the working class tasted good. And Cheryl fucking _loved_ it.

She never wanted to stop.

Wet smacks from open mouthed kisses filled the room, harmonising with the deep undertones of moans and whimpers and laboured breaths that were sucked in desperately and pushed out slowly. Red made its messy, slathered mark across Toni’s face and Cheryl felt the same hands from her hair move to dig their eager fingers around her hips and up into her toned waist.

She ran her tongue against the tip of Toni’s, flicking it as she pulled back to bounce her head against the wall and stare down at her. Toni’s pretty brown eyes were hooded, Cheryl noted, and her breathing was heavy, panting out of her red stained mouth. She looked like a child who’d been caught eating strawberries. Cheryl had never been so captivated in all her life.

“I want to have sex with you.” She murmured, lips brushing against Toni’s as they breathed into each other’s mouths. She regretted that it sounded so formal, but she could barely think. She was allowing her mind’s id to control her mouth and her movements.

She was Cheryl Blossom. **She got what she wanted**.

She watched Toni’s hazy eyes widen in surprise and leaned forward to kiss her red lips up her neck, stopping to bite and suck occasionally, blemishing the girl’s darker skin with even darker bruises. She wanted to mark her. For Toni to be _hers._

“ _Shit,_ Cheryl.” She heard Toni gasp as she tilted her head to provide Cheryl with more access to her neck, “Are you sure? Seriously?”

Forgoing a verbal answer, Cheryl removed her wet lips from Toni’s jaw and turned them both around, pushing her against the pantry wall. She trailed her long, pale fingers over Toni’s hip, down her leg and under her skirt, panting lightly into pink hair as her hand came to rest between the other girl’s legs. She could feel Toni’s heart beating wilding against her breasts and Cheryl leaned her head down to press her lips to her ear.

“I’m sure. Are you?” She whispered. She was certain Toni wasn’t going to refuse and as she felt the heat of the other girl through her underwear she hoped to _God_ she wouldn’t.

“Jesus Christ, Cheryl. _Yes._ ”

That was all it took.

Cheryl slipped her hand into Toni’s underwear, as eager as she was tentative, and kept her face buried against the side of Toni’s as she ran her fingers between her legs. Her breath hitched, her hands were shaking. She felt wetness, moving her fingers gradually to Toni’s clit. She’d never done this to another woman before but she worked on instinct, using what she knew about her own body. She pressed her middle finger to it, rubbing gentle circles and felt Toni’s breath whimper into her ear, small hands gripping at her back.

“Does that feel good?” She murmured, busying her lips on Toni’s neck as she nodded in response.

Cheryl rubbed a little harder, earning a moan and slid her fingers along to tease at Toni’s entrance, sucking in a shaky breath before slowly pushing two fingers inside right to the knuckle.

_Holy **shit.**_

Cheryl’s eyes rolled back in her head at the sensation and, unbeknownst to her, Toni’s did the same. Starting slowly, she moved them in and out, Toni’s hands gripping her tighter as she explored which movements elicited which noises.

She was actually _doing_ this.

She felt Toni’s lips attach themselves to the exposed skin of her clavicle, muffling soft moans into Cheryl’s skin as Cheryl sped her fingers, and sucked marks of retaliation onto her pale collarbone.

“ _Fuck_ , Cheryl.”

 _God_ her name had never sounded sweeter.

As Toni began to grind her hips down onto Cheryl’s hand, meeting the thrust of her fingers, Cheryl leaned back a little to watch her face. It was slack with pleasure, her mouth gaping open and her brow tipping up in the middle, eyes shut. A sight too priceless even for the Louvre, Cheryl pondered.  She continued her movements for as long as it took, enjoying herself, her naturally curious mind soaking up the experience keenly. The warmth, and the wet, and the gripping, and the noises.  She liked this. **_Loved_** this. She wanted to do this again. And again and again and again.

Her wrist was tiring somewhat and her forearm was beginning to cramp but she moved her hand faster still and bent her fingers slightly inside, moving her thumb to bump against her clit with each deep thrust. Pressing a soft kiss to Toni’s lips, she watched as her face screwed up frantically.

“Fuck, _there._ Oh my god, **_there_**.” Toni panted.

Cheryl watched with rapt fascination as Toni finally climbed to the summit, letting out a choked groan as she tipped over the edge and gripped around Cheryl’s fingers. Short, toned arms pulled Cheryl in tightly and she smiled, removing her hand as the panting in her ear began to ease.

Wow.

“Wow.” Toni echoed. “That… I can’t even talk. That was amazing.”

Cheryl smiled in return, wiping her sticky fingers on the bare skin of her own thigh. “I’m a Blossom.” 

Perfection was an obligation.

“Well, your turn, _Blossom._ ”

Cheryl’s heart surged in her chest and she moved to lean back against the wall with the guidance of Toni’s hands.

Toni’s lack of hesitation showed her experienced advantage over Cheryl quite clearly, but Cheryl did not feel any intimidation or reluctance in the face of it. She’d wanted this more than anything for _months._

She responded eagerly as Toni led them into a deep kiss, their faces jutting diagonally against one another as they delved languidly into each other’s mouths. Cheryl sighed contentedly, two skilled hands coming up to squeeze her breasts through her top, causing her to push her chest back into their inviting warmth.

“Red velvet,” Toni purred, having pulled her mouth away to kiss across her cheek to her ear, commenting on the fabric of Cheryl’s skirt. “Is that what you taste like too?”

Cheryl’s chest tightened, “Oh my god.”

She followed obediently as was steered downwards to rest on top of a sack of potatoes, keeping her gaze on Toni’s as those proficient fingers smoothed up long, creamy white legs to hook into her underwear and pull them down slowly.

**_Oh my God._ **

Past her thighs. Slowly. Over her knees. So slowly. Down along her designer thigh high boots. Too fucking _slowly._ Until, finally, Toni pulled them off her ankles and passed them back to Cheryl. It was a kind gesture considering the circumstances, saved discarding them on the dirty floor.

“Are you still sure?” Toni murmured, her drunken eyes searching Cheryl’s face reverently.

“Do it.” Cheryl demanded.

Small, warm hands carefully pushed apart bent, white knees and tugged her hips down lower.

Cheryl was close to hyperventilating.

Her chest was bouncing up and down raggedly as she watched Toni’s face move closer and closer between her legs, her skirt bunching up to her hips. She could hear the lively chatter from outside the door. Feel the vibrating thump of the music in the background. The scratch of the sack beneath her buttermilk thighs and the smell of spices in the air as her beer-addled brain attempted to soak it all in.

Suddenly, she felt a flat tongue sweep slowly over her, once, twice, three times before soft lips wrapped themselves around her clit and the same eager tongue began to lap against it.

Fuck.

Her head fell back with a breathy moan and collided with the wall, her eyes screwing tightly shut. She’d never felt anything like it. So warm. _So_ soft. Dextrous and wet and god _so_ warm. So **_good_**.

She bunched her underwear in her hand, squeezing it tightly and the other reached out to grip the shoulder of Toni’s serpent jacket, creasing the leather in her tight grasp.

Toni continued with a hum, flicking and pressing and rubbing expertly, never relenting as she kept a firm lock of her lips, sucking in time with her tongue.

Cheryl was lost for words. Her vocabulary was extensive. Far more so than most adults let alone anyone else her age. It bordered on Dickensian at times. She was a voracious reader, well studied and socialised in high society. She knew how to use words. But as she felt Toni’s tongue circling her entrance, pushing inwards to lap around teasingly and a finger began to rub at her clit, she simply could not find any at all.

“Ugh!” Was all she managed to whimper gutturally, her hand moving to grip Toni’s hair and tugging lightly, earning her a moan from between her legs.

She was drunk on beer at a high school party with hickeys on her shoulders, sitting on top of a dirty potato sack being eaten out by a girl from the Southside. Her mother would not approve.

She liked that.

She opened her eyes as the cold air suddenly hit her between her legs and saw Toni, sporting a glistening mouth and messy hair, moving towards her face. She accepted her kiss happily, matching Toni’s groan as she tasted herself and allowing her to rest her tiny body comfortably on top of her own. Two slender fingers worked themselves inside her, all those pre-sleep fantasies finally coming true.

“Oh god, yes.” She gasped into Toni’s mouth.

Toni’s hands worked skilfully, wasting no time in pumping into Cheryl at a hard pace, the leather of her jacket squeaking with the effort. Cheryl held on tight to her shoulders, hooking one of her legs over Toni’s and lifting them both up slightly as she arched her back. She felt Toni rub the heel of her hand against her clit as she moved harder, adding another finger and twisting them around, scissoring them erratically. Cheryl sucked in a sharp breath.

“Ye-!” Her words were cut short in her throat and replaced with a silent moan, her mouth opening widely and her body tensing tightly under Toni as she pulsed around her fingers. No porn video could compare to this. Even her own best work lacked the warmth and skill of a companion participant. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so quenched.

She felt her control surging back to her.

Soft kisses were pressed to her cheeks and lips, and her hair was pushed gently from her face as she came down slowly, opening her eyes to that pretty smile. Toni’s freckles across her cheeks and nose were backlit with a light pink flush. Her eyes were sparkling, the mascara slightly smudged and red lipstick was spread thickly around her mouth.

She looked like a fucked clown. Cheryl was sure she looked the same.

“You, Cheryl _Blossom_ ,” Toni slurred at her, leaning down to drag Cheryl’s top lip through her own, “are **sensational**.”


	7. A Pantry, Not A Closet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cheryl is a boss-ass bitch.

The previous Christmas had been an odd time for Cheryl. She’d missed the gluttonous expense of the seasonally decorated rooms of Thornhill over-spilling with gifts. She’d missed tables groaning under the weight of such disgusting amounts of rich food, always barely even touched. She’d missed going for fittings with the tailor for her and Jason’s annual, and immoderately priced, Christmas attire. She’d missed the true, unbridled hedonism of a Blossom family Christmas. Mostly, however, she just missed Jason. Christmas had been a lavish affair when he was alive.

She’d been sat at the breakfast table in the conservatory of Thistlehouse on December 29th, reading over the syllabus for the new school year, when her mother had waltzed in with her dainty silken nightgown billowing around her gracefully with each step she took, the deep plum colour connoting the royal air she had about her. The front door sounded shut with a thud in the distance and gravelled steps were heard under feet, belonging to God _knew_ who, crunching into nothingness.

“Another happy client, you will no doubt be pleased to hear, Cheryl.” Penelope had smirked, noting the way her daughters face morphed into a grimace.

“I don’t want to hear about your prostitution racket, mommy.” She’d replied curtly, her croissant suddenly seeming unappetising.

“Oh, Cheryl. Don’t be such a prude, dear. It isn’t becoming of your social stature.” Her mother had tutted, casting a dominating shadow over the table as she poured herself a tea. “Sex, is merely a necessity of give-and-take.”

Cheryl couldn’t help the scoff that had left her. “You make it sound like a business deal.”

“Why, Cheryl, that’s entirely what it is.” Penelope said pointedly, a slow smirk trickling onto her face. “For centuries women have used sex as a means of acquiring what they need. Money, power, security, freedom, _pleasure_.” She had rattled off, watching her daughter staring into her tea but knowing full well she was listening attentively, little virgin that she was.

“I think that sounds awfully clinical.” Cheryl had stated confidently, meeting her mother’s eye.

“It’s an exchange, Cheryl. One thing for another. Women, especially women of our noble blood, have known this from the beginning of time. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you’ll find a use in that exchange for such trivial things as _love_. And certainly not the first time.”

Cheryl felt herself blush. She supposed even a mother as distant and emotionally vacant as hers had some kind of intuitive capabilities to know if her daughter had not yet had sex. She looked away.

“I think it would be nice for it to be special. With someone you at least _like_ let alone **_know_**. My body is a temple worthy of respect.”

Penelope rolled her eyes, retrieving her cup. “Oh, silly child. You will learn. Wasn’t it Maupassant who said that life, for women, was merely a continuous sacrifice of one’s body? You should know you are the reader in the family after all.”

“Yes, mother.” Cheryl had said through gritted teeth, gripping her bone china tea cup dangerously hard, “He also wrote that the richest in society cause all the conflict.”

“Well then,” Penelope drawled, a light titter leaving her pursed lips as she swept her way back to the door, sparing one last smug glance at Cheryl, “in that case, we know for _certain_ he’s not wrong.”

 

 

 

 

Monday morning had come around faster than many hangovers had managed to leave the partygoers of Archie Andrew’s Friday night debauchery. A wide smile had not left Cheryl’s face the entire weekend and a certain face had not left her mind either. She was busy grinning at the scuff on her boot as she packed her books into her locker when a familiar voice lilted its way into her ears from behind her locker door.

“Cheryl.”

It was Toni.

She pushed the door ajar to peer around it and felt a flutter fill her chest as her brown eyes met a second pair. She looked concerned.

“Toni. Hello.” Her eyes flicked down to those lovely lips, mesmerised, remembering what they did to her and what she had done to them. Gosh they were pretty. She had to plant her feet into the ground to keep herself from reaching out to touch them. She wanted to kiss them. Just one little kiss. They were so kissable- oh, and they were moving.

“Sorry, what did you say?” Cheryl asked distractedly, curling a strand of red hair behind her ear.

“I said we _need_ to talk about what happened, Cheryl.” Toni replied in hushed tones, frowning.

Oh god.

“Well-“

“Why is everybody going around this morning saying that Cheryl ‘Bombshell’ Blossom lost her fucking ‘V card’ at Archie’s party?” Toni interrupted, her jaw set tight.

Oh _God._ Fucking Veronica and her big mouth. Cheryl knew she shouldn’t have told her. You can take the girl out of New York but you can’t take-

“ _Cheryl._ Answer me.”

Cheryl floundered uncharacteristically for a moment. “Well, Toni.” She perked up, squaring her shoulders, “I suppose they’re saying that because it’s true.” She wasn’t ashamed.

Toni’s face fell. As did Cheryl’s stomach.

She watched Toni run a hand through her hair, which was straightened at the front today and looked so _pretty_ and-

“Why didn’t you tell me you were a virgin?” Toni whispered, stepping closer to her. She smelled lovely.

“Why does it matter?”

“ _Why_ , Cheryl? **_Why?_** Because it’s your _first time_.”

Cheryl frowned. “Toni. Enough riddles. No one knows it was with you specifically. Did you not enjoy it or something? Are you regretting it?”

Shit. Shit Shit Shit.

 _Control_ yourself, Cheryl.

Toni looked at her. First, with outright alarm which then transitioned to confusion and, finally, acquiesced to understanding. Her eyes softened.

“No, Cheryl. I enjoyed it _very_ fucking much.” Cheryl noticed Toni was struggling to contain a smile and she grinned coyly herself in response. “I don’t regret it at all. I’m just pissed that I acted the way I did. Which I wouldn’t have done, had you fucking told me you were a goddamn _virgin._ ”

Cheryl frowned, “Stop saying it like it’s something to be demonised.”

“Sorry.”

“What do you mean the way you acted?”

Toni let out a sigh, looking around the corridor to check it was empty but keeping her voice low anyway, “I just… I feel like maybe I was a little _rough_. I don’t know. And fuck, it was in a _closet_ -“

“-pantry.”

“What?”

“It was a pantry, not a closet. And it’s pardon, not what.”

“Dammit, Cheryl you were literally on a sack of potatoes. And we were both so drunk, oh _god_. I’m sorry. But then actually, it’s not really _my_ fault because _you_ should’ve told me.”

Cheryl was unfazed, shrugging one shoulder. “I think it was most enjoyable. No need for anyone to be taking any _blame_.”

Toni pressed her lips together, leaning against the lockers with a sigh. “You’re right,” she nodded in defeat, “I’m sorry, it’s your choice. I just… I think you’re great, Cheryl. I really do. I think you deserved the best first time possible. You deserved for it to be special.”

Cheryl was taken aback, touching words and goosebumps from ‘ _I think you’re great’_ aside.

“You didn’t think it was special?” She said quietly, watching Toni’s face with sharp attention. “I thought it was special. It was everything I’d ever wanted it to be.”

Toni was silent, her arms uncoiling and dropping to her sides as she watched her. For all of Cheryl’s intelligence and wiles she could not decipher the look she was receiving.

“You did?” Toni finally said, uncertainty tilting the intonation of her words. “You really mean that? I didn’t scar you for life?”

Cheryl quirked a brow, her gaze drifting over the dark bruises exposed on Toni’s neck. She smirked proudly.

“Don’t be so silly, TT. Not at all. I had a wonderful time. You didn’t scar me. Although I see I came close to it with you.” She quipped, nodding to her neck.

Toni’s entire body relaxed in front of her eyes and she barked out a light laugh. “Speak for yourself, Bombshell. I know for a fact you have at least one right there.” A slim, tanned finger reached out to hover over the fabric of Cheryl’s funnel neck, pressing gently onto her collarbone. She felt herself press her legs together and enjoyed the warmth seeping through her top and into her skin.

“I just put them somewhere I knew clothes would cover them because I didn’t want you to get in trouble. You know, because _I’m_ actually respectful.” Toni teased, biting her bottom lip.

She had to stop doing that when Cheryl needed to think.

“Did you really? That’s actually very sweet of you. And here you are worrying that you’re running around scarring people with your harlot ways.” There was literally nothing about this girl that Cheryl didn’t like. She was a sweetheart. And fucked like a sailor.

“Thanks for putting it straight. I’ve been worrying all weekend. I’m glad you had as good a time as I did, Cheryl. And honestly? If that was your first time, I gotta say, you’re very talented” Toni said softly, a small smile curling her lips and her calm, deep voice massaging its way into Cheryl’s muscles.

“Nonsense. I loved it. You’re very talented too. Now off to the library with you or you’ll never graduate.”


	8. No Pressure, Be Chill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, again. Thank you all for the kind comments, your reviews are very useful so keep them and feel free to add more if you're so inclined.

“Cheryl, there is no way I can do a split like that. And I’m not entirely sure Josie and Ginger can even physically lift me.” Veronica huffed, spraying deodorant over herself and stuffing it into her bag, swinging it gracefully over her shoulder.

Cheryl rolled her eyes, pulling her shirt over her head deftly as she turned to face her and tucked her hands under her hair to flip it out onto her back.

“Veronica, I consider you a close friend and a valued member of, not only the River Vixens, but also Riverdale High as a school and a community.”

Veronica tapped her foot impatiently at the theatrical lead up but she smiled at the words nonetheless.

“So, that’s why I hope it doesn’t come off as garishly harsh when I say to you, I don’t care. I want it, so you’re doing it.” Cheryl nodded as she finished, signalling an end to the discussion and held up a hand to stop Veronica’s retort, watching the offended look drop from her face.

“Hey, listen, Cheryl.” She started quietly, peering around the empty locker room.  “I’m sorry it got out about you having sex at Archie’s party. I swear I only told Josie because I assumed you would have told her too and then I guess someone overheard and-“

“Veronica” Cheryl said quickly, a smile tinting her words, “I don’t care. It’s fine. I’m actually glad. The impact has been very positive. I wasn’t aware that I had any more room for street-cred real estate, but it looks like I’ve bought up the whole damn monopoly board now.” She smirked, winking at her friend.

“You’re a devil, Cheryl Blossom.” Veronica purred, grinning, “Shady bitch. So, anyway, what I really want to know is who was it-“

“Veronica?”

Cheryl looked behind to see Toni, clad in her Vixen’s training uniform and hair in braids to keep it out of her sweaty face, dragging her tired feet to her locker and calling out the name. Still just as cute as before practice, Cheryl thought.

“Archie is waiting outside in the gym. He specifically said to me, ‘Toni please tell Veronica I’m leaving in one minute with or without her.’ Just so you know.” She relayed with a chuckle.

Cheryl managed to drag her eyes from Toni for a moment to see Veronica shoot her a look over her shoulder as she made her way out, “You’d better tell me later.” She warned, “Bye, Toni.”

She pushed the door open and threw up her hands exasperatedly. “You, _Archiekins_ , need to learn **patience**. And I did not just leave, _by the way_ , because you summoned me. I left because I _was ready_ to-“ Her voice filtered out as the door closed slowly behind her and Cheryl realised suddenly that she hadn’t been alone like this with Toni since their conversation in the hallway a few days ago.

“So do think you’ll be able to do the-“

Her words fell short as she turned around to see Toni had already changed into her jeans and was busy pulling her Vixens shirt over her head. The muscles of her flat stomach stretched and undulated as she moved her toned arms, the sleek lines of her small waist disappearing into the waistline of her jeans. She dropped her arms down by her side, Cheryl’s eyes immediately drawn to the front of her nicely filled sports bra, and tossed her shirt into her bag as she turned to Cheryl.

“Do I think I’ll be able to do what?” She prompted, placing her hands on her hips.

Cheryl didn’t even know what fuck she’d been intending to ask, focussing instead on the way Toni’s slender collar bones jutted against her lovely skin and the fading yellow colour of the hickeys Cheryl had given her those days ago. She had a very nice chest. Neat. Round. Firm looking. Just the right amount of ample breast for each one of Cheryl’s elegant hands.

“What’s the problem, Cheryl? It’s nothing you haven’t seen before.” Toni chuckled.

“Yes it is.”

Cheryl hadn’t seen very much of Toni at all that night, much to her chagrin. This was all brand new and highly entertaining viewing. A network premiere for Cheryl’s night-time imagination.

Toni seemed to catch on to this quickly, her eyebrows rising on her face.

“Oh yeah, I guess it is.”

Cheryl watched as Toni merely shrugged, a smile on her face as she slipped a clean t-shirt over her head. It had a rainbow on it. Oh my god this girl was going to finish her off.

She took the pause in conversation as an opportunity to voice something she’d wanted to say to Toni for a few days now unable, at any juncture, to find the right time to do so. She approached her slowly, looking over her face and watching her pack her bag.

“So what were you saying? Do I think I’ll be able-“

“Toni, would you want to do it again?” She interrupted boldly, not wanting to confound this.

Toni, to her credit, did not seem annoyed. She turned to Cheryl with a raised eyebrow and closed her locker door.

“You still haven’t told me what it is you were talking about, Cheryl. So I don’t know-“

“No. Sex, Toni.” She interrupted a second time. “Sex. With me. Would you want to do it again?”

A knowing look passed over Toni’s face as she was hit with the realisation of the request and Cheryl took it to mean she had probably been propositioned for sex many times in her life. Not that she was surprised. Who wouldn’t want to?

“Are you being real?”

Cheryl huffed at the question. “If you mean am I being _serious_ then the simple answer is yes. Now what is _your_ simple answer to _my_ question?”

She saw Toni grin. The girl liked to push her buttons. As much as it irked her, Cheryl respected that.

“Cheryl, _of course_ I’d want to do it again. Only if you did too, obviously. Fuck, I’d do it right now.” She laughed.

“Ok.” Cheryl said breathily as she moved her arms forward, glad Toni was as keen as she, and reached for the hem of her rainbow t-shirt. She was damn sure going to see that chest this time-

“Hey! Woah! What are you doing?!” Toni yelled, a laugh bubbling out of her throat as she stepped backwards. “Cheryl that was a _joke._ ”

Oh shit.

“Oh. Oh my god. Hell. I’m sorry. I mistook your words for-“ Cheryl looked at her with wide eyes and had the decency to blush just slightly for her indiscretion.

On _school_ property, Cheryl? Seriously?   

She looked over Toni’s face, hoping desperately she hadn’t overstepped the mark and ruined this before it had even begun. She thought she saw a look of understanding and, she noticed indignantly, one of complete smugness.

“Look,” Toni began, still trying to stifle her laughter, “message me, ok? I’m working a couple evenings this week but I’m free on Thursday night. We could arrange something.”

“My mother has a client over this Thursday night. We can’t. Unless we go to yours?” It went against all the social conventions with which she’d been raised and she felt rude inviting herself over but she was a fucking horny **_mess_**.

“Oh there’s no guarantee even _I’ll_ be allowed in my uncle’s trailer, so that’s a no go. Plus you probably really wouldn’t like it. Wait. A client? I didn’t know your mom had a business, what does she do?”

Cheryl shook her head quickly, blinking a few times. “It’s _mother_ or _mommy_ , I was always taught ‘mom’ is for hicks. And I’m sure I wouldn’t mind your trailer at all, I’m not _such_ an insufferable snob…” The two comments completely contradicting each other, “…and it doesn’t matter what she does, the point is Thistlehouse is a no go Thursday night.” She finished quickly. Even she could tell she was coming off a little desperate now.

**_Control_ yourself, Cheryl.**

Toni seemed to wait a moment before speaking, coaxing her lips down from a smirk.

“Like I said,” she spoke softly, calming Cheryl’s mind, “message me. Ok? We’ll work it out, Bombshell.” She nodded at her, encouraging Cheryl to nod back.

She did. With fervour.

“In the meantime, how about I give you this to think about.”

Cheryl barely had time to register a question as to what she was receiving before Toni had stood up on her tiptoes, hooking a gentle hand around Cheryl’s neck and pulling her down to press a slow, soft kiss to her lips. Cheryl let out a little whimper; eyes closed, and frowned as Toni pulled back and started walking away before she could touch her. She was smirking again.

“Oh and Cheryl? There’s a scuff on the rubber of your Vixens sneakers. I noticed it today. Thought you might want to know.”

 

 

 

Cheryl’s hands were shaking as she gripped the steering wheel of her cherry red convertible. She’d shut the radio off not long ago, the incessant noise not helping her nerves, and now she heard only the soft rumbling hum of the engine and the tyres crinkling on the asphalt below. It calmed her somewhat. She peered at the speed dial tipping well over the speed limit and pressed her foot to the brake lightly, slowing down.

She was far too eager.

She had messaged Toni, as was requested of her, and they’d managed to arrange a rendezvous. Thistlehouse was still off the cards, her mother banging away with some dirty bastard, and although Cheryl knew little to nothing about Toni’s home life it seemed that her uncle’s trailer would not be a viable option either.

So, they’d agreed that Cheryl would drive out to meet Toni at the Whyte Wyrm, where she would be finishing some homework with Fangs, to pick her up and go for a drive.

‘No pressure, be chill.’ Toni’s final message had said.

Cheryl was trying not to read into it too much and failing miserably. Was it a jab at her _ridiculous_ actions in the locker room? Was it a general assessment of Cheryl’s personality? Did Toni think she was uptight? She supposed she was really. No pressure? Did she think she was pressuring Cheryl? She scoffed a laugh out loud to herself. If anything Cheryl was the eager one. Oh _God,_ did she think Cheryl was pressuring _her_? What was either of them being pressured into? Was there even a guarantee of sex? She shouldn’t make assumptions but-

The speed dial revved daringly high and Cheryl took a deep breath, depressing the brake again.

Control yourself.

This was precisely what Toni had meant by ‘No pressure, be chill.’

“You’re going to ruin this for yourself.” She muttered out loud, glancing out of the window at the peeling, faded sign on the roadside as she passed it.

‘RIVERDALE: SOUTHSIDE’

She wasn’t far now.

Was she nervous because of the Wyrm’s association with Jason’s death? Maybe.

More likely it was the prospect of having Toni alone and all to herself. She wondered what she’d be wearing.

Turning off the main road she trundled slowly along a pitted mud trail, littered with stones and broken glass and holes, her refined little car rocking from side to side, almost as if it were trying to crawl away. Not now. Not when she’d come this far.

She parked up, killing the engine and waited, staring down at her phone and hovering her fingers over the keyboard. She needed to let her know she was here.

She took one final look in the mirror, wiping her finger under the line of her lip to neaten the edge of the darker burgundy she’d chosen for tonight, and fluffed the curls of her hair. She smirked at herself. For all of her anxiousness she couldn’t deny that she was utterly, devastatingly excited. Still, she could guarantee Toni wasn’t this fazed by tonight. She was probably in there right now, calm and cool as ever.

With a final deep breath she tapped out a message to signal she had arrived and tucked her phone away, wringing her hands in her lap.

It felt like a good ten minutes but was probably closer to less than fucking one before she saw Toni trudging over the debris-laden parking lot, offering Cheryl a bright smile and a wave.

Show time.

“You’re not going to try and take my shirt off again are you?” She asked with a smirk as she opened the car door, slipping her bag in the foot-well and clambering into the passenger seat. She made the compact car look almost big.

“Another joke of yours so soon, TT? You should make a career of it.” Cheryl drawled, rolling her eyes, a smirk of her own threatening to burst into a grin.

“You look hot, I like your lips.” Toni commented. God, how did she just _do_ that? The very fact that Toni thought she looked desirable _did_ things to her.

“Thank you, as do you. Not wearing your Serpent jacket tonight?” Cheryl replied, peeling her eyes over Toni’s petite frame.

“Nah, too humid.” Toni shrugged. “That leather is a lot. I left it at Jughead’s place.”

Cheryl watched as Toni fastened her seatbelt and did the same, reigniting the engine.

“That’s a shame, I happen to think it’s rather sexy. Shall we drive?”

Oh, Cheryl Blossom. You flirty cad, you.


	9. Standard Balcony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some sessssual tension, as if we haven't had enough. A nice moment for them both. Enjoy.

And so Cheryl had come to find herself on her back, stretched out on the back seat of the car, her legs strewn every which way to accommodate her height. She was dancing her fingers over warm, dark skin, tinkering at flesh covered ribs like piano keys and teasing melodic sounds out of Toni who lay draped on top of her, pressing her small body into Cheryl’s as their tongues lapped against each other. They’d been like that for only God knew how long, the early evening sun having set around them and encompassing them in darkness. Toni had broken away only once, and only for a second, to turn on the indoor light and the radio, and they’d remained woven together since, the sounds of their mouths meeting and parting, and the odd murmured moan, or whimper, or admiring comment filling the car.

Cheryl had been the one to make the first move. She had parked up and turned to listen to Toni talk but had been so enchanted by that _mouth_ that the conversation had been cut short and they’d ended up here.

It was heavenly.

She let out a soft sigh as Toni shifted her weight on top, one hand resting on top of red hair scratching delectably at Cheryl’s scalp and the other rubbing soothingly up and down Cheryl’s side. Cheryl pulled her down to rest heavier on her. She liked that weighted, comforted feeling. She liked it an awful lot.

She felt Toni pull back slowly, languishing in the taste of her lips and watched as she pecked her swollen mouth once more before she moved to kiss Cheryl’s neck softly.

“Mmmmm.”

Toni’s hand wound its way further into Cheryl’s hair, cupping the back of her head and massaging her fingertips into it gently as she pressed her pillowed lips up to her jaw. Not to mark this time. Just to worship.

Cheryl felt like jelly, letting out a hum that was a few octaves higher than usual.

“Have you ever had sex in a car?” She croaked quietly, breaking the long silence between them and moving her hands to Toni’s backside.

She felt Toni’s groan, her mouth making its way back down to Cheryl’s shoulder before moving against the soft, pale skin there as she spoke.

“Cheryl if you want to have sex just ask me. You don’t need to lead around it like that.” She murmured lazily before attaching her mouth again. Her voice was tired and gravelly, sending vibrations through to Cheryl’s very bones. It made her hips twitch upwards.

“No, I wasn’t intending to lead.” She countered weakly, turning her head to the side, “I’m just curious.”

She felt her stop her kisses and two warm hands came to rest on her stomach as Toni pushed herself up to straddle Cheryl’s hips, looking down at her. She looked dishevelled and rested, something perhaps born of a long nap or a good joint. It was utterly spectacular in Cheryl’s opinion.

“You really want to know?” She asked, brushing some hair from Cheryl’s face before rubbing small circles over her sides.

Cheryl could only nod for a moment.

“I don’t mean to pry, you don’t have to answer.”

“No, no, Cheryl. I don’t mind.” Toni placated, chucking deeply to herself. “I just don’t know what your opinion is on multiple partners. I don’t want you to feel put off or intimidated or some shit is all.” She shrugged.

Cheryl smiled. This girl may be in a gang and own a knife and stash the odd drug loot, but to Cheryl she was nothing but quintessential _goodness_. At least she had been to her anyway.

“Well, I wouldn’t be so fond of knowing such a thing about say, for instance, my mother.” Which unfortunately she _did._ “But I’m all for sexual liberation.”

“Everything you say is either like a written thesis or straight out of the fucking ‘Burn Book’, I love it” Toni laughed, moving her hips slowly into Cheryl’s and making her grunt.

**_Please_** do that again, Cheryl begged inside her head, biting on her lip and squeezing her hands rhythmically into Toni’s thighs as she sat perched.

“But that’s good; I’m a ‘Free Love’ kinda gal, myself.” Toni smiled. “But yes, to answer your question, I’ve had a lot of sex in cars. Mainly with guys if I’m honest. As a school kid it’s easier to get yourself into girl’s bedrooms for ‘studying’ than it is with guys. Heteronormativity bias and all that crap.” She nodded. “Also, I’ve grown up with a lot of trailer kids. And you can’t fuck anyone of any gender comfortably when their parents are sitting in the living room 4 feet away. So you get creative, find an alternative.”

Cheryl didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t been expecting to hear anything different. She felt a sting of jealousy but she assumed that was normal. What really struck her, she supposed, was that Toni’s words illustrated so clearly just how different their respective childhoods had been.

“Why, Cheryl? Have you?” Toni teased, receiving a light slap to her thigh.

“Such a _comedian_ tonight aren’t we?”

Cheryl flopped her head back onto the seat and rubbed her hands gently up Toni’s thighs, moving her hips up experimentally and immediately closing her eyes with a sigh as the sensation shot between her legs. She felt movement on top of her, heard a rustling of clothes and when she opened her eyes again, Toni had divested herself of her shirt, sitting happily on Cheryl’s legs with her bra on full display.

“God.” She breathed.

“Close,” Toni chuckled, placing her hands on top of Cheryl’s wrists to lift her arms, “But, no. Just me.” She led Cheryl’s hands to her waist, figuring she could work the rest out on her own if she wanted to and rocked her hips down onto her slowly.

“Are you sure?” Cheryl murmured, eyes fluttering at Toni’s movements.

“Cheryl, thank you for asking, but I literally just put your hands there. Besides, from the way you were staring at them the other day it seems cruel to deprive you any longer.”

See? Quintessential goodness.

Cheryl moved her hands up eagerly, cupping Toni’s breasts, squeezing them greedily in her palms. Their weight felt right there. It sat comfortably, firm against her fingers as they squeezed again, working an airy moan from Toni. Cheryl pushed them up and together, licking her lips at the rounded cleavage it created and let out a shaky breath, rubbing her thumbs over the front.

“Fuck.” Toni hissed.

“The first time I saw you, when you all arrived at school. When I was less than welcoming.” Cheryl admitted quietly, “You were wearing a V neck sweater. It was low cut and I noticed your chest right away. I had to go to the bathroom afterward to calm down.”

Toni smirked at the confession, flicking her eyes to Cheryl’s chest.

“Can I ask? What kind of bra do you wear? Padded? Push up? Support?” She murmured her eyes glued to the rise and fall of Cheryl’s bosom.

“Standard balcony. I’ve never padded. Why?” Luxury lingerie of course, Cheryl neglected to add, no high street shit. Collectively worth more than Toni’s home no doubt.

“Jesus Christ, Bombshell. They’re real?”

Now it was Cheryl’s turn to smirk. Sitting up a tad she tugged off her top, setting it on the back of the driver’s seat, watching as Toni devoured the sight of her. It made goosebumps appear on her skin.

“ _Of course_ they’re real, TT. Don’t be silly.” She chuckled. “Touch them.”

It sounded more like a command than an invitation and, for some reason; this was _very_ ok with both girls.

Toni reached out her hands, sinking her fingers into them and pinching the nipples gently through the fabric as she ground her hips down, biting her lip into her mouth. Cheryl groaned, her eyes rolling back. She knew what she’d be dreaming about for a while.

Toni leaned down as Cheryl sat up to meet her halfway, resting on her elbows. She rubbed her nose against Cheryl’s gently, pressing their foreheads together and breathed softly against her lips. Eyes closed as tongues came out to flick teasingly against each other, their lips smacking as they kissed lazily under the cloak of Toni’s cascading hair. Toni continued working her hands on Cheryl’s chest, grinding slowly into her as they moaned into each other’s mouths.

The blaring of Cheryl’s phone broke them apart. She scrambled for it, knowing exactly who it would be that was calling her at this time.

“Mother?” She said breathlessly, trying to calm her body as Toni watched her.

Cheryl felt as if the woman herself had walked in on them.

“Gone already? That’s early isn’t it? It’s _what_ time?” Her eyes widened as she nudged Toni to check her own phone.

23:48. Shit.

“Yes, I’m sorry, mommy. I didn’t realise it was so late. I’m just at Pop’s with some friends. I’ll just take Cousin Betty home and return right away.” The lie slipping easily from her well-practiced lips.

She ended the call, looking to Toni.

“Can we do this again? Please? Sometime soon,” She nodded, her hopeful eyes pleading.

Toni smiled at her slowly and Cheryl felt her wipe her thumb over her chin to remove what must be an utter mess of burgundy lipstick.

“Sure we can, I’d like that.” Toni nodded in agreement, staring down at her face. “Don’t forget to clean yourself up before you get in. I like your bra by the way, it’s pretty”

“Thank you. I’ll drop you back at the Wyrm if that’s ok. Message me when you get home safely.”

“Ditto, Bombshell.”


	10. Power Play.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A slightly shorter one. I've written a lot in advance but I'm staggering my uploads to accommodate for some up-coming exams. Do not be alarmed, however, there is so much more to come.

It had been a week since Cheryl had first met with up Toni in her car and in that time she had only managed to see the girl twice due to life and its many hindrances.

Once had been on a Sunday afternoon. Cheryl had driven out to the Southside to meet Toni after her shift at the Wyrm but it had run on longer than expected, cutting into their time together. As a result, they had only had a short while to make out hastily in the parking lot before Cheryl was expected back on the Northside to participate in the monthly hunt with the other members of Riverdale’s pseudo landed gentry. 

The other had been a rather risqué and scandalous engagement in the bathroom at school. Both girls had excused themselves from their separate tables at lunchtime to spend a hurried and feverish ten minutes locked up in a stall together before returning separately to their friends, Cheryl waiting to leave one minute after Toni, looking almost imperceptibly flushed.

It had been nice. Great, even.

But, Cheryl mused, as she sat in Mr Dullard’s class pretending to read a fact sheet she’d already memorised, it had gone no further than their late night make-out session in her car. It had been simply tongues on tongues and groping over clothes again. She wanted more. _Needed_ it. Since that momentous encounter in the pantry her own hands could only satisfy so much these days.

She glanced at Toni, dotting her gaze over her slim back, wanting to reach over and trace her fingers over the bumps of her spine, feel the warmth of her body seeping through the soft plaid of her shirt, put her face in that lean neck and smell her hair.

She crossed her legs tightly.

Toni herself seemed surreptitiously preoccupied with something in her lap. Probably texting.

Cheryl bristled in her seat.

She had no reason, nor right as a matter of fact, to want to know _who_ it might be and _why_ Toni found them more interesting than her, but she felt it anyway. Just as her frown was turning into a scowl, she saw pink hair shifting as Toni turned to glance at her over her shoulder. Cheryl didn’t bother to look away, aware that Toni knew that she stared.

‘ _Check your phone.’_ She mouthed, glancing at Mr Dullard at the front who appeared to be hating his life as he begrudgingly marked a stack of papers, raising her own phone in her hand for Cheryl to see.

She’d been texting her? Cheryl’s brow tipped upwards, a smirk stretching up so far that it exposed a glimpse of perfectly white teeth.

Toni turned back to her desk, picking up her pen and Cheryl stealthily reached into her bag to retrieve her phone. She hoped it was an invitation to meet up. Oh! Maybe even in the bathroom again, lunchtime _was_ fast approaching.

She opened the message, tapping her foot in the air impatiently as she glanced down at it.

Oh.

My. **_God._**

She dropped her mouth, and almost her phone, wide eyes blinking at the image on her screen.

It was a photo. More specifically a photo of Toni.

She had clearly just exited the shower, her wet hair dripping down her back as she stood facing away from what Cheryl assumed to be her trailer’s bathroom mirror. She was naked, her chest mostly hidden by the angle of her body and an arm which covered her breasts. She was smiling, biting her lip and looking into the phone as she took the picture. Cheryl’s eyes were drawn immediately down her curved back to the real star of the show; her ass. It was completely exposed in all its smooth, round, coffee coloured glory, bolstered to look deliciously plump as it rested on the lip of a sink.

The air in Cheryl’s lungs disappeared completely.

She’d sent her a nude.

Toni had sent her a _nude_.

She swallowed thickly, sinking her teeth into her bottom lip and debating her next move.

Sure she’d received nudes before, but always from guys. She wasn’t ashamed to admit that she’d sent them of herself in return either. Power play was, after all, her favourite game. She was Cheryl Blossom.

She had to be in control.

Scrolling through her images she selected a picture she’d taken a few months ago. She surveyed it quickly, observing her big brown eyes and bitten red lip. Her collar bones cast a dark shadow on the pale skin of her clavicle as she shielded her breasts from view with her arm, pushing them upwards to form two milky round globes of cleavage, her red hair lying in soft curls around her shoulders.

_Perfect._

Just enough to tease.

She sent it, training her eyes on Toni as she tried to conceal her shit-eating grin.

“Miss Blossom, phone _away_!” Mr Dullard bellowed out of nowhere, causing her to drop it on the ground.

Shit.

“As you wish, Mr Dullard. Apologies.” She muttered, bending down to retrieve it and noticing a small scuff scraped onto the back of it from hitting the hard floor.

Yet another one.

“Holy **_SHIT_**.”

Her eyes shot up at the expletive, recognising the familiar voice.

“Topaz, _language_ ,” Mr Dullard warned, looking up at her, “Hey! You put your phone away too, Toni!” He frowned, addressing the rest of the class, “no more looking at goddamn phones in this class. That goes for everyone. Seriously, next one is a detention.”

Cheryl caught Toni’s eye as the other girl glanced back at her, tapping the end of her pen against her signature red lips lightly and sending a playful wink in her direction. She noted the parting of Toni’s smirking mouth and _that_ familiar look in her eye. _The_ look.

She knew it wouldn’t be long until they met up again.

**_Perfect._ **


	11. Touch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, you guys really seem to fucking like it. That's dope! Thanks for reading. It's pretty fucking cool for me because this is actually the first fic I've ever written. This is a pretty big upload today. Thank you for your reviews!

Cheryl had always thought that Josie McCoy was utterly beautiful, ever since she’d first laid eyes on her in freshman year. The girl smelled like coconut and peaches, and her skin was such a gorgeous colour, smooth and soft and begging to be touched.

She hadn’t developed her crush, however, until she was 16 when she had realised that her desire to be around Josie as much as she could stemmed beyond that of a normal friendship. She had wanted her. And in her clouded, lust-filled, sexually repressed, hormonal state she had tried just about every trick in the book to get her.

The problem was, of course, that Josie was straight.

Despite this, Cheryl wasn’t particularly proud to recall, the infatuation had continued well into her 17th year.

She had been so smug with herself when she’d thought to buy the lavender essential oil, placing it in her locker before Vixens practice and asking Josie to hang back with her to count pompoms so that she could ensure they’d be alone together after their showers.

Fixing her towel around her chest she had tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, gazing over the petit muscles of Josie’s back. Attraction and magnetism and sex appeal simply _dripping_ off her much like the small beads of water on her skin from her shower, not yet dried.  God Cheryl wanted to touch it. Touch _her._

She had found furtive ways in which to get her fix of the physical intimacy she so desired.  Walking her fingers over Josie’s arms playfully as they talked by a locker. Taking her forearm across a table in a moment of emotional exchange. Rubbing slow circles onto her back to soothe her when she was stressed but really only serving to soothe Cheryl’s urges. They simply weren’t enough. Cheryl wanted to touch _skin_. 

It had always been a vice of hers; touching things. Almost always things that she wanted but couldn’t have. She had been so starved of it growing up, never having that skin-to-skin bond at birth and having been reared _practically_ not _emotionally_ by distant nannies. Affection was for poor people. Touching things was naughty.

_Deviant._

The years she’d spent in old family mansions as she grew, her curiosity and spoiled nature begging her to reach out and grab every trinket or treasure that caught her eye. She _had_ to.

Cheryl Blossom got what she wanted.

Clearly, she had realised as she’d grabbed the bottle of oil and her eyes swept over Josie’s figure, she still possessed this same addictive compulsion.

“Oh my god, Josie. Your back. It’s like a sailor’s rope.” She feigned with a small laugh, watching the girl’s incredulous reaction.

“All those tension knots? Luckily, I just picked up a new bottle of lavender essential oil. _Turn around_.”

She had barely given the girl a choice honestly, stepping forward and warming the oil between her hands before she’d slid them over Josie’s lean shoulders, working her thumbs into her back. It had felt just as good as she’d imagined it would. It had taken all of her will power not to push Josie forward into the lockers and attack her neck with her mouth. The thought had rushed a surge of adrenaline through her body and she’d gripped her hands into Josie a little harder than she’d meant to, causing her to pull away from Cheryl slightly.

Of course, after that, the moment had plunged itself into a disaster. The janitor interrupting, Cheryl tersely calling him out, Josie remaining completely oblivious to _everything_ that had happened. She’d tried to touch her again but, clearly, the moment had gone.

Luckily for Cheryl, she’d managed to grow out of her crush on Josie, and the two had been able to remain as very close friends.

 _Unluckily_ for Cheryl, and her utterly insatiable libido, she had never quite managed to grow out of her ever present, ever potent, childhood obsession with _touch_.

 

 

 

She strutted primly into the rec room, her spine ram-rod straight and her arms swinging gracefully by her side, heels clipping with each step on the wooden floor. Fourth period was about to start and she always had it free on a Thursday. She was planning to spend the full hour getting ahead on the Math syllabus but she was under no real illusion that she’d most likely while away the majority of the time perusing Toni’s Instagram by herself.

She had some developing plans on the ‘hook-up’ front that she was eager to tell the girl, most likely through text if her busy schedule today was anything to go by.

Placing her little red backpack neatly onto a vacant seat, she moved across the room to fetch herself a drink, stopping in her tracks as she spied pink hair poking over the top of an armchair.

Could it be?

Looking around to check that she wasn’t being watched, Cheryl moved swiftly over to it, beaming widely as she saw Toni reading a textbook, her headphones plugged into her ears. She hadn’t noticed her.

She couldn’t believe she was actually able to catch her alone. Toni always seemed to be _with_ somebody. Most of the time it was her two Serpent boys, permanently flanked at her sides like a pair of loyal Doberman.

Cheryl reached out to run a finger along the exposed skin of Toni’s neck to her shoulder, her bottom lip falling prey to her teeth once again as she studied the smoothness, enjoying the warmth.

Mmmmmmm.

_Touch._

Toni flinched, ripping out an earphone and turning around with wide eyes.

“Fucking shit, Pea. You scared the _ass_ off me- Cheryl?” Her frown eased immediately and Cheryl’s chest fluttered lightly as she saw Toni grin, evidently pleased to see her. “Hi, sorry I thought you were, Sweetpea. He’s always creeping up on me-“

“-We don’t have a lot of time.” Cheryl interrupted. That was becoming a bit of a nasty habit it seemed, “Prying eavesdroppers will be filing in here any minute.” She explained, bending down to kneel in front of her, placing her pale hands on Toni’s warm knees. She let her thumb drag across the skin lightly, back and forth, as she spoke.

“Good news, TT. Mother is away tomorrow night.” She whispered excitedly. Well, as excited as she could be with the knowledge that her _mother_ was making a home visit to stay overnight at a _client’s house_. “So it’ll be just me in Thistlehouse. And Nana Rose of course, but she’s good as gold and her room is furthest away from mine and she sleeps early.”

“Cheryl Blossom, what are you asking me?” Toni smirked, already aware of what Cheryl was implying. She might not be a refined individual but she had _manners._ She wouldn’t impose without an invitation.

Cheryl looked up at her face, just enjoying the sight for a brief second before chewing on the inside of her lip. “Would you like to come over? To my house?”

Toni smiled. “I have work ‘til 8 tomorrow but after that…” She paused to look around the empty room before leaning closer to Cheryl’s face, “I’m all yours, Bombshell.” She purred.

Oh HELL yes.

“Terrific.” Cheryl breathed, her face consisting mostly of smile. “Any time after 8 is perfect. Park your bike around the back of the estate though, just in case mommy returns for whatever reason.”

Toni nodded, understanding.

The two girls looked at each other for a moment then, faint smiles playing on their features.

“I liked that picture you sent to me yesterday.” Cheryl said quietly, one side of her smile lifting more than the other. “I should’ve known Toni Topaz would be one for sending _nudes_.”

“Yeah it’s a good one huh?” Toni agreed, proudly. “But if you think _that’s_ good. You’re in for a real treat.”

Cheryl shivered.

“I liked yours too by the way.” Toni continued in a low voice, looking at Cheryl with a wistful smile.

“Thank you.”

“You’re really a sight to behold, Bombshell. Kinda knocks me for six.”

Cheryl had the sudden urge to kiss her. It was risky in public, and so close to a lesson change, but she could see Toni leaning into her and-

She stood quickly then as the bell rang, lingering her hand on Toni’s bare knee a moment longer before pulling back.

“Shit, is it fourth period already?” Toni murmured, frantically packing her bag and tugging it over her shoulder. “I have to go, Cheryl. But I’ll see you soon. Thanks for the invite.”

“You’re welcome, Toni. I’m looking forward to it.”

 

 


	12. Sneakers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lead up to some pretty intense things. Enjoy, motherfuckers.

Cheryl blew the dust from her fingertips, splaying them out in front of her to inspect the length of the nails she’d just finished filing down.

_Just in case_.

Satisfied, she placed the glass file away into a drawer and snapped it shut, glancing at the clock.

19:57.

Not long to go now. No need to get over excited. Nothing happened on their Southside drive, nothing would necessarily happen this time either. But then if not why had Toni sent her a naked picture? Not that she should ever _assume_ consent, but why had Toni had _that_ look in her eye and told Cheryl ‘ _you’re in for a treat_ ’ all sexy and husky and whispered like that?

_Control_ yourself, Cheryl.

She was just being impatient.

She’d helped Nana Rose to bed a while ago and read to her as she always did. After that, she’d tried to busy herself to kill time but she’d already finished her homework, taken a shower, tidied her bedroom and fixed her makeup.

Damn her obligatory, perfect Blossom efficiency.

By the time 20:23 rolled around, the ticking of each fucking _second_ causing her eyelid to twitch, Cheryl was scowling like the spoiled child she truly was and re-reading the same sentence distractedly in her book.

She wasn’t worried that Toni wasn’t coming, she was simply impatiently irritated by the fact that she wasn’t getting _what_ she wanted _when_ she wanted it.

In a particularly characteristic act of juvenile petulance she uncrossed her legs from her position on her lavish mahogany reading chair and literally stamped her foot, huffing.

Then, as if her childishly irritable mind had been read, she suddenly heard the faint rumbling of a motorcycle engine growing louder and louder as it approached the house.

Just as quickly as it had arrived, her foul mood was gone, replaced instead by a powerful giddiness and complementary toothy grin.

She was _here._

Snapping her book shut she stood, stealing one last look at herself in her mirror as she swept past it. She heard the engine die out somewhere behind the back of the house and made her way quietly down the stairs to the foyer.

Her breathing increased as she heard the crunch of gravel approaching the door and couldn’t wait a second longer before she reached forward and opened it, startling Toni with her eagerness.

Oh wow.

She raked her eyes over Toni openly, not bothering to hide her interest at all and felt her face go slack.

Her pink-tinted hair was fluffy and soft-looking, falling loosely around her face and over her shoulders, the fragrant spritz of her earthy shampoo blowing in with the warm evening breeze. She was wearing a loose t-shirt, the front portion tucked in to the _softest_ looking pair of modest sweatpants and little city-worn sneakers littered with scuffs. She had a duffle bag over her shoulder, her Serpent jacket resting over the top.

But her face. That’s what numbed Cheryl’s tongue.

It was completely free of makeup, the skin of her cheeks looking youthful and new, the dim porchlight bouncing off it in a soft matte glow. Her bare lips, just as deliciously chapped as ever, were rounded and pink working hard in fierce competition with her big bright eyes as to what should be the focus of Cheryl’s gaze.

She looked beautiful. Unpretentious.

“Cheryl, I’m really sorry I’m a little late. I know it’s rude, but I wasn’t working the bar this evening, I was lifting stock in the back and I was sweaty and gross and I just thought I should go to Fang’s for a shower and a change of clothes before I came over. I should’ve messaged I know, but I came as quickly as I could.” She apologised softly, shrugging her bag higher onto her shoulder.

_Sweaty_ and _gross_ were not two adjectives Cheryl had ever thought would bring a pulsing heat between her legs before but if Toni’s salty, glistening skin after a Vixen’s practice was any standard to go by Cheryl would not have minded her turning up like that at _all_.

“Don’t be silly, TT. I said any time after 8 o clock remember?” Cheryl murmured, her words having finally returned to her.

“And I apologise for looking like this too but my shift just tired me out and I wanted to be relaxed and shit and just save time to get over here faster.”

Cheryl almost drew back. ‘ _I apologise for looking like this’_. Was she mad? She might well apologise for looking so goddamn fucking _angelic_.

“You look the prettiest I’ve ever seen you.”

Clearly, Toni had not been expecting her to say that. Before she could reply to her, Cheryl had stepped forward to pull her into a welcoming hug, Toni not expecting her to do _that_ either. They’d had sex in a pantry and made out multiple times but they’d never hugged.

Cheryl liked it very much indeed.

She was deceptively strong, pale arms toned and strengthened from years of cheerleading and archery, and she squeezed Toni so hard against her body that it took her a second to recover before she could wrap her own arms around Cheryl in return.

It was warm and tight and lovely.

“I’m sorry. I’ve kept you out here on the doorstep like a vagrant.” Cheryl murmured as she pulled back to open the door wider, her upper-class colloquialism making Toni wince covertly. “Please, come in.”

“Thanks.”

Tattered sneakers stepped in through the door, finding themselves glaringly juxtaposed in a dichotomy of class against the shiny real-wood floor of Thistlehouse foyer.

Cheryl closed the door behind them with a soft thud and watched as Toni took in the sight of the staircase and the dark furnishings, portraits framed in gold and priceless ancient rugs, appropriated from their native land by Blossom ancestors hundreds of years ago, strewn neatly about the floor.

The wonder on her face was reminiscent to Cheryl of a look she’d seen on Jason’s face once. They had been 7 years old, on vacation in France. Never stooping so low as to do what the _tourists_ did, they had been given an exclusive tour of the Palace of Versailles by some aristocrat friend of the family. Such young children, particularly as spoiled and familiar with splendour as they were, had been bored until they’d reached the Hall of Mirrors. Marvel had swept over Jason’s face as he’d gazed around, inquisitive eyes taking in every detail. Cheryl had found such a human expression on her darling brother’s face far more eye-catching than the interior of the room itself.

She smiled nostalgically at the memory, letting Toni acclimatise herself a second longer.

“You should’ve seen Thornhill Mansion. It was far more impressive.” She said quietly, immediately regretting it. Here she was boasting to a girl, who had grown up in a metal box of a home, that not only did Cheryl have multiple luxuriously decorated places of residence but, so unfathomably rich and privileged was she, that she had thought nothing of simply burning one to the ground. Had it been anyone else she would’ve been proud to flaunt her wealth but this was Toni and she felt that she had shown herself up.

If Toni had noticed, she didn’t react.

“Well, I feel unworthy.” She chuckled, turning her gaze to Cheryl and looking over the deep, rich red silk of her two-piece nightwear and the lightweight robe draped diaphanously over her tall, pale frame. “ _And_ underdressed, I’m just wearing my pyjamas. I feel like I should apologise to your ancestors or something.” She joked.

Cheryl frowned at her.

“You don’t need to apologise for anything, TT. You look lovely. You always do.” She glanced down at her own attire, “and I am also wearing my pyjamas.”

Toni’s eyes bulged, a crooked smile enveloping a scoffed laugh. “You sleep in _that_ , Bombshell? That shit is so fancy. I’d wear that to a wedding or some shit.”

This time Cheryl laughed. First, a snicker and then a melodic bounce of pitch. It filled the foyer, light and graceful, her eyes crinkling around the edges.

“Looks like you have some nice gardens ‘round this place too.” Toni noted, “I parked up near some of these like, big blue flowers at the back. I love flowers.”

Cheryl took note.

“Well, come along, Cha-Cha. I’ll spare you the full tour this time.” She took Toni’s bag from her, leading her to the stairs. “Follow me to my bedroom.”

“Gladly.” 

 

 


	13. Ride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning, this is smutty. Skip over if you would like. There are some nuances that you might miss if you do so but no major plot losses, so do whatever makes you comfortable.

“Fuuuuuck, Cheryl. That feels amazing.”

The words were spoken lazily, a gruff drawl followed by a high-pitched sigh.

It literally made Cheryl sweat.

She was sat on top of the back of Toni’s thighs, as Toni lay face down on her bed with her arms tucked securely under the pillow which held her head, massaging her hands up and down Toni’s bare back in rhythmic circles.

Upon arriving at her bedroom, Toni had rolled her shoulders with a wince and complained about her stiff muscles from the heavy lifting of her work at the Wyrm earlier that evening.  Cheryl’s eyes had immediately darted to her bottle of lavender oil sitting innocently on her dresser. It was proving itself to be an invaluable investment for the second time.

Toni had accepted her offer of a massage gratefully and whipped off her shirt, still a sight Cheryl had yet to get used to, plopping herself onto Cheryl’s silken bedsheets right away.

So here she was. Her breath ragged. Her mind heady with intoxication from her fix of _touch_ that she was receiving, indulgently spreading her palms over dark skin, squeezing and rubbing and scratching as much as she liked.

This was _infinitely_ better than her endeavour with Josie.

The front of her hips pressed gently into the roundness of Toni’s backside whenever she leaned forward to do her shoulders and it made Cheryl so fucking _wet_ she worried a dark patch was forming on the crotch of her pyjama shorts.

“Mmmmmmm. Right there, Cheryl.”

These damn noises she kept making weren’t helping either.

“Here?” Cheryl pressed her thumbs into a knot in Toni’s upper trap muscles and earned herself a deep moan into the pillow, biting her lip smugly.

“Yeah. That’s good. Hold on.”

Cheryl stilled her hands, pulling back and watching with glazed eyes as Toni’s hands reached dextrously around her own back to unclasp her bra, pulling the straps over her arms and discarding it on the floor before lying down again.

Cheryl wanted to chastise her for just _throwing_ her clothing around like that because really what effort did it take to just _fold_ it away but her eyes had caught sight of a tiny portion of the side of Toni’s breasts and so her teeth had just clamped shut instead.

Her hands hovered over the skin, pressing down and sweeping her fingers a little further out to the side than before.

 _Control_ yourself, Cheryl.

How was this fair?

How could she be expected to form _thoughts_ let alone continue? Her heart was beating so fast she thought she might pass out.

Toni turned her face to the side, eyes closed.

“Cheryl, I gotta be honest, as much as I appreciate you doing this for my back, it’s fucking turning me _on_.”

Oh thank **_God._**

“Good lord, me too.” She breathed, smoothing her hands over Toni’s shoulders and along the length of her arms until she reached her tiny wrists, encircling them with her long fingers and pinning them gently to the bed. She leaned down to press herself into Toni’s back, not caring that the expensive foreign silk of her nightshirt would likely be stained beyond repair by the massage oil, and pressed her open lips to Toni’s neck, sucking at it lightly with a whimper.

“ ** _Jesus_** Christ, Cheryl.” Toni gasped, pushing her backside up into her.

Cheryl whimpered again. She lathed her tongue ravenously down Toni’s neck, sucking and kissing intermittently. She could taste the faint, bitter chemical taste of Toni’s shower gel, smell her crisp deodorant, feel the attractive undulating bend of her back beneath her stomach. It turned her feral with lust.

She bit her teeth down a little too hard.

“ _Ow_ , Cheryl. Too much.”

“Sorry.”

She shifted back, letting go of Toni’s wrists and eyeing the angry red teeth marks on her shoulder guiltily as Toni moved beneath her, turning onto her back.

Cheryl’s eyes flicked down to her exposed chest immediately.

She could die happy.

“Do _not_ bite those.” Toni warned, a smug laugh leaving her lips as she looked up at Cheryl, noting the hungry look in her eyes.

Cheryl’s hands wrapped around them, squeezing the flesh gently and she sucked in a deep breath through her nose. _So_ much better than through a bra. She felt the nipples harden beneath her palms as Toni moaned appreciatively, tipping her head back against the pillow and closing her eyes.

Cheryl leaned forward to catch her mouth with her own, sucking messily at her lips, dipping her tongue past them slightly as she squeezed her hands again. Toni’s warm hands found themselves on Cheryl’s hips, pushing up, up, up and underneath her top, gripping onto the bend of her waist as she languorous returned the wet kisses.

Parting them for a moment, Cheryl pulled back to shrug off her robe and crossed her arms over her body, lifting off her own shirt, her hair flipping wildly around her.

“Oh my god.” Toni’s words were reverent. Almost gasped. Her eyes were filled with the same impressed wonder as when she’d stepped into the foyer an hour ago. “Cheryl.”

She seemed lost for words, hands coming up to squeeze Cheryl’s breasts so gently, so softly, rubbing them in circles. A groan left Cheryl. Toni pulled back.

“You are beautiful.” Toni whispered. “I have _never_ seen anything like you in my _life._ ”

Cheryl was taken aback. Toni was a very intelligent, insightful girl but her words often lacked finesse. But her compliment, so awed and breathy, sounded deliberate. Thoughtful.

“So are you.”

“You wanna go any further, Bombshell?

“ _Yes please_.”

Cheryl watched Toni nod in compliance, hooking her fingers softly into the waistband of Cheryl’s pyjama shorts as a request of permission.

Taking the hint, Cheryl manoeuvred herself out of them, watching as Toni did the same with her sweatpants and took a curious glance between Toni’s legs.

Oh, ok. _Fuck._

They returned to their previous tableaux, Cheryl sitting on Toni’s hips as Toni sat up against the headboard this time, and looked over each other’s naked bodies appreciatively. 

Starting at her collarbone, Toni ran a gentle hand down Cheryl’s chest, pausing to knead her breast, over her taut stomach to lie resting between her legs. Cheryl wondered if she was being so tender with her after the scare of thinking she’d hurt Cheryl on their first time. _Her_ first time. Or if, perhaps, she was just like this when she was sober. Cheryl thought it was likely a mixture of the two. For all of Toni’s gang pageantry and corresponding reputation, Cheryl had only ever known her to be an absolute darling.

She felt Toni’s hand turn, palm facing upwards as they kept their eyes locked, and a finger came to rest on her clit pressing slow circles into it.

“Oh, God.” She breathed, eyes closing. Plump lips began tickling up Cheryl’s neck as she stared into the blackness behind her eyelids, kissing lovingly up to her jaw and taking their time to reach her mouth. She started to rock her hips back into the pressure of Toni’s finger, reciprocating the placid pecks to her lips, until suddenly the pressure was gone and two fingers pushed into her.

She grunted from behind a bitten red lip. Nana Rose was asleep on the other side of the house but she still couldn’t risk drawing attention to them.

Toni’s fingers began to move, slowly to start, and Cheryl reached a hand behind pink hair to grip the wooden headboard of her bed. Her other hand came to rest on Toni’s breast again, producing a moan from both of them.

“You like that?” Toni murmured against her lips, making sure.

Cheryl nodded. “Go faster.”

Toni did as she was told, speeding her hand and tugging Cheryl’s lip between hers.

Wet noises hit Cheryl’s ears and a sigh fluttered out of her and into Toni’s mouth. She ground her hips down onto Toni’s fingers, feeling them slide in deeper and her mouth fell open in a gasp, gripping the wood of her bedframe harder.

She wound the fingers of her other hand into Toni’s hair, gripping it roughly and swallowing Toni’s moan as she pressed their lips together hard. She turned her head, curling her tongue into Toni’s mouth. Both of them sped up their movements, as did their breathing, Cheryl’s hips moving frantically as Toni’s fingers rubbed against _the_ spot and she tugged on Toni’s hair, moving her head with her hand wherever she wanted it, sucking harshly at Toni’s lower lip over and over.

Toni’s free hand slipped between them to rub Cheryl’s clit with her thumb, watching her face closely.

Cheryl tore her lips from Toni’s, screwing up her eyes and pressing their foreheads together, holding Toni’s head firmly to hers from behind. The air was leaving her lungs in short, high-pitched pants, her teeth nipping at Toni’s top lip as they breathed into each other’s mouths.

This was different from the first time. The excitement and the build-up and Toni’s skill had added to the sensation then, even with her senses dulled from the alcohol. But now she was sober.

She could feel everything.

Every stroke, ugh just a little more.

Every press, just a _little._

Every kiss and caress, every prod and slide and hook.

She moaned. Almost there, just a _little_ more.

She revelled in the slight burning stretch, the tightening heat that infused itself through her lower half, growing white-hot and ever closer to its culmination. She pushed herself harder, her hips thumping quickly against the relentless pace of Toni’s hand and her breath stuttered at the feeling of the steady in and out, in and out, slick and wet and _almost there…_

…Just a little more.

 Holy shit this was _hot_.

Just a **_little_** more.

“Oh **SH-**.”

She pulled hard on the locks of hair in her palm, throwing her head back as her hips bucked against Toni’s hand, waves rolling over her body and feeling herself pulse around the fingers inside her as that building heat finally radiated out.

Holy. Fucking. **_Shit_**.

Wow. Just, wow.

She _never_ wanted to stop doing this.

She panted harshly, her hips stilling as she twitched.

When she finally opened her eyes, Toni having already removed her hand, pale skin was flushed a flattering pink as she smiled down at her.

“Oh, sorry,” She murmured, hastily removing the vicelike grip on Toni’s hair and using her hand to push her own red locks back and away from her face.

 “You _never_ have to apologise to me for pulling my hair.” Toni chuckled, her lips twisting as she pressed them into a line, rubbing soothing hands over white, muscular thighs. “You ok?”

“ _So_ ok, TT.”

A chuckle.

“Good.”

“I want to do you now.”

Another chuckle.

“Cheryl we don’t _always_ have to do b-“

“But I _want_ it.”

Cheryl’s words were insistent and firm, spilling out through clenched teeth before she could stop them, like a spoiled child demanding candy. Those words said in that way were almost a catchphrase for her at this point.

Cheryl Blossom _got_ what she **_wanted_**.

Toni was neither shocked, nor impressed. At all.

Her eyebrows rose and she blinked once, twice, three times pointedly.

“ _Excuse_ me?”

There was a hint of a laugh behind Toni’s words but Cheryl saw quite clearly that she was not tolerating _that_ kind of bossiness from her.

“Sorry. I’m sorry. That was childish. I’m still learning to take no for an answer. I get too eager.” She replied assuredly, looking to Toni’s eyes.

This was not a toy in a store or a cake in the kitchen or a pair of shoes in a shopfront window.

This was a person. This was their body. This was Toni.

 _Control_ yourself.

“Earnestly, TT. I apologise.”

Toni’s face broke into a grin.

“You’re forgiven, Bombshell.”

Cheryl was relieved somewhat but she knew at least a small portion of Toni’s smile was intended to mock. And rightly so it should. She was being a brat.

“You have permission to… ‘do me now’ as you put it.” Toni snickered.

“Don’t tease me, Cha-Cha. Or I won’t do it.”

“But I _want_ it.” Toni mimicked, letting out a loud laugh.

Cheryl blushed, fighting a pout. “ _Zip it_ ,” She huffed, “I’ll take that smile off your face just you wait.”

“Do your worst.”

A challenge? For Cheryl Blossom? The girl who couldn’t lose?

**_Perfect._ **


	14. You're A Natural.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooh gotcha, its more smut. HOWEVER, don't completely skip this chapter if you're not smut-inclined. Again, you'll miss certain idiosyncrasies, BUT, just scroll towards the end because there's some pretty pivotal dialogue exchange there. Don't miss it, folks.

“Lie down.” She ordered, sounding more like a school mistress than a dominatrix as she unsaddled herself from Toni’s lap, scooting backward on the bed.

Toni followed her orders, a shrewd smirk on her face.

Cheryl would soon get rid of _that._

“Legs up, bent.” She instructed primly, tapping at Toni’s knee until she was in position.

She pushed Toni’s legs apart, peering down between them and took a deep breath, moving to lie on her stomach.

Toni’s eyebrows shot up.

“Cheryl you don’t have to do-“

“Stop talking.”

“I’m just saying, it’s a refined skill, like, shit. Don’t feel obliged to get me off like this, it’s not easy-“

“ _Stop. **Talking.**_ **”**

Toni stopped.

“I need to concentrate. I might not be as experienced as you, Toni. But I’m not a fool. Everyone needs to start somewhere. Besides, I’ve done my research.”

Toni snorted, flopping her head onto the pillow. “Oh what, you wrote notes?”

“ _No,_ I didn’t _._ ” Yes, she did. She really did. They were over on her desk, hidden in plain sight, three folders down in her stack, tucked into a book marked: ‘Geography.’ Highlighted and annotated.

“So what then, Bombshell? Porn?”

Cheryl huffed at her disobedient idle chitchat. “ _No_.” Again, of course, the true answer was yes.

“Oh, so you just stood next to a lesbian and picked it up via osmosis or something? “

“Toni!”

This time Toni actually stopped.

Cheryl stared at the delight in front of her, her tongue impatiently escaping her lips to wet them.

She’d wanted to do this for years.

Thought about doing it to Heather, _yearned_ to do it to Josie, imagined doing it to just about any woman who caught her eye, _including Veronica,_ although she’d never admit _that_ out loud. But with Toni, it was a _compulsion_. So long as she was allowed, Cheryl _had_ to do it. She’d go insane if not.

She quickly reviewed what she’d learned in her head, shifting closer, and thought about what Toni had done to her those weeks ago in the pantry. She could replicate that. She _would_ replicate it. And she’d do it well.

No.

_Perfectly._

Flipping her hair over one shoulder she lowered her head, looking up to see Toni’s chest buoying up and down like a calm tide, waiting patiently for Cheryl to start. She was so good to her.

She gathered her confidence, injecting it straight into her brain and brought her mouth closer, noting how Toni’s legs twitched as her breath hit her skin.

It made Cheryl smirk.

Flattening her tongue, she slackened her jaw and _oh so slowly_ licked a long, soft trail over Toni’s folds.

Ugh.

 _Heaven_.

She ran her tongue over the roof of her own mouth, savouring it, and swallowed.

Toni was wet and it tasted…tangy? She didn’t quite know how to describe it. She wasn’t a fucking _pussy sommelier._ She just knew it tasted good. And she liked the feel of the soft, sensitive skin beneath her tongue.

Toni hummed, her fingers lazily flexing on the bedsheets next to her hips.

Experimentally, Cheryl did it again, this time dipping her tongue in a little deeper as it passed over Toni’s centre. The slight suction of the muscles that caught hold of her tongue caused her eyes to roll back in her head, letting out a moan to match the one Toni had let slip.

She could do this all day.

Pursing her lips, she kissed a line from Toni’s centre upwards; stopping as she reached her clit to look up at Toni’s closed eyes. She dipped her head to suck it softly.

“Oh shit, _finally._ ” Toni hissed, a hand coming to weave into Cheryl’s hair.

Cheryl watched her carefully, pulsing her lips rhythmically, her tongue lathing it softly inside her mouth.

“Ugh _fuck_ , don’t stop.” Toni grunted, her back arching beautifully, pushing her breasts up and providing Cheryl with a spectacular view.

She continued her work meticulously, watching Toni’s face the whole time, searching for indications of what felt good, what made her eyelids flutter or her lips part with a sigh, what made her eyes screw up and grip her fingers tighter into red hair.

She noticed Toni’s hips had started moving up against her mouth eventually and her gorgeous brown skin was covered in a light sheen of sweat.

Loosening her cramping lips she pulled back with a loud suck, watching Toni sigh.

Well that smirk was certainly gone now wasn’t it, Cha-Cha?

Cheryl relaxed her jaw, moving it up and down to rub her tongue softly and quickly against Toni, stretching the muscle around her clit occasionally in circles at a lazy pace, flicking and teasing before starting the process again and again.

“Holy fucking _fuck_ , Cheryl. Oh my _fuck._ ” Toni cursed, her back arching further as her legs hooked themselves over Cheryl’s shoulders.

“Does that feel good?” Cheryl supposed it could sound like an attempt at pillow talk but she was genuinely asking, trying to discern if she was making Toni feel good.

She wanted to make her feel good.

Toni deserved to feel good.

Instead of words, Toni tried her best to nod against the pillow, letting out a low, croaky moan deep in her throat.

Cheryl’s eye twitched. She remembered cookies and the cafeteria.

That same moan.

 _Control_ yourself, Cher- no, **fuck it**.

With hooded eyes she pushed herself up Toni’s body, knees still clamped over her shoulders, to lie on top of her, rubbing her lower stomach between Toni’s legs.

Toni’s exclamation of ‘ _Oh shit, Cheryl,_ ’ was lost to Cheryl’s tongue as they kissed hungrily, Cheryl moaning breathily as Toni seemed to enjoy the taste of herself as much as she did.

Cheryl supposed she had only herself to thank for pushing the Vixens so hard in their training to allow Toni to have her knees pushed back practically to her fucking ears as she pressed herself onto the back of Toni’s thighs and she smirked into the kiss, reaching a hand down to push two fingers into Toni.

The groan she received for her actions goaded her on and she began plunging them in and out roughly, moving as deeply as she could.

_Touch._

She couldn’t get _enough._

Shoving their foreheads together she watched Toni’s closed eyelids, vulgar clapping sounds of skin on wet skin echoing around the room and spurring inside her a perverse feeling of power and satisfaction.

Bumping the heel of her hand to Toni’s clit with each piston thrust of her fingers she pushed on, and on and on and on, breathing hard against Toni’s face which was transfixed with euphoria. This was perfection. This was true, unadulterated perfection. Yet another thing for Cheryl to excel at.

She butted her hand harder.

The sounds from Toni’s mouth, the look on her face, the feel of her fluttering muscles around her fingers. It was _addictive_. _She_ was doing this. _She_ was responsible for someone else’s pleasure. And not like her first attempt, not like her first time. Her brain was _glacial_ in its clarity. This was intense. This was measured.  This was improved.

She hooked her fingers.

And she was good at it. She was _good_ at it. She could see the evidence of it in Toni’s expression, the instant gratification to her work, the voice of addiction inside her head rearing darkly up from behind her and prickling against the strained muscles of her back to grit menacingly into her ear,

‘ _You’re a natural, Cheryl. **This** is natural. This is **right**. And may you abide languorously in the scorching pits of Hell if it isn’t, my child. Because this, **this,** this is what you **want.** It’s all you’ve **ever** wanted. To touch. To feel **truly in control.** You see it. It’s for you, Cheryl. This is yours. The **power**. You’re a natural, Cheryl Blossom. **This** is natural. Take it. And by God, girl, **Never let it go.**_ ’

She’d never felt more fucking alive.

Panting harshly with exertion, she suddenly felt calves folding tightly over her shoulders, fingers clawing desperately at her back and a staccato rhythm of whimpers darting sweet breath across her face until finally, _finally-_

“Cheryl. **Fuck.** ”

Two words, choked breathlessly from a lovely mouth as muscles clamped around her fingers and a petite, toned body bucked up fitfully from beneath her.

Beautiful.

_Well done, little ingénue. You’re a **natural**._

Removing her hand slowly and wiping it onto the sheets, she sat back; straightening Toni’s twitching legs gently onto the bed with her hands and smiling at her work.

Never challenge Cheryl Blossom.

You will not win.

She leaned over to press a soft kiss to Toni’s glistening forehead, pulling the sheets over them and moved to recline next to her on the bed, watching that pretty, pretty face with an attentive smile.

The last time she’d been under the covers with a girl she’d been promptly torn from her life.

Somehow, however, the inner peace that she was currently floating in - star-fished out, facing the sun in the Dead Sea of her mind as she counted freckles on pink cheeks - obstructed the memory from reaching her and dragging her down, leaving it stranded over on the shore to starve.

“How do you feel?” She murmured softly as Toni’s breathing finally calmed, reaching out a hand to brush pink hair from brown eyes.

“Thoroughly fucked,” came Toni’s drained reply; “Where in the _hell_ did you learn to do that on your second fucking time, Bombshell? You some kind of fucking sex savant or w-“

“-I told you, I do my research. But that’s not what I meant, TT. I mean with me. How do you feel with me?”

Again, Cheryl had interrupted and, again, Toni didn’t seem to care as she turned her eyes to Cheryl, twisting her body to face her.

Cheryl had no time for a lack of confidence in her life, nor beating around the bush, and thus she was not surprised when Toni took a moment to answer, her gaze wandering aimlessly over Cheryl’s face as the weight of her question hung in the air. She didn’t want to implicate her response it seemed.

“Honestly?” Toni drawled shifting her head on the pillow and cracking her lips into a smile, “pretty fancy,” she shrugged. “You’re all….I don’t know, rich and upper class. All regal and shit. I was born into Sunnyside trailer park and I work at a biker bar and until this past year I spent all my time in the Southside and, of course, I’m proud of that,” Cheryl saw the flash of affection in her eyes and she believed her. “But when I’m with you, in this completely different world than I’m used to, I should feel weird, right? Like, rejected or out of place, less than or some shit. But I don’t. I feel fancy. I guess… Accepted. I enjoy myself.”

A soft hand reached up to brush a lock of Cheryl’s hair from her neck.

“Yeah, that’s it. I enjoy myself with you, Bombshell. “She paused to smile wider, “I feel like I belong.”

Cheryl searched Toni’s eyes and fought between breathlessness and hyperventilation, opting instead to curl her lips slowly into a particular smile that she seemed only to bestow upon the girl in front of her.

 _I feel like I belong_. Cheryl knew it was just clever semantic word play by Toni’s intelligent mind that had omitted ‘ _with you_ ’ from the end and it made her skin prickle.

“And you, Bombshell? How do you feel with me?”

Her mind immediately shuffled its note cards, pressing them neatly into place, ready to spiel off the thousand and one things Toni made her feel but she threw them away, opting instead to go off book.

“In control,” She whispered, ghosting the pads of her fingers over Toni’s lips, feeling them press soft kisses in return.

“Kinky.”

Cheryl rolled her eyes. “No, TT. Of myself. Of my life. I feel at peace. Since I was born, I’ve tried. I was raised in a home with strict rules and expectations but no boundaries to enforce them. With some things my willpower is almost torturously military but with others, I can’t help but be an impulsive, greedy little terror. It’s chaotic. For years and years my parents, particularly my mother, told me ‘ _control yourself, Cheryl.’_ Then I began to say it to myself. And for years and years I’ve tried. I’ve come close before but this, when I’m with you. I feel it. Ever since you scuffed your way into my life. I feel it. ”

Toni hung on her every word, unable to relate but willing to listen. It made Cheryl smile.

“Did you want to stay the night?”

“I didn’t think I would to be honest, Cheryl.”

“I’m sorry, it’s Friday night, you must have plans.”

“No, no I don’t. You are my plans; I just didn’t want to intrude.”

“You’re not intruding please stay, TT?”

“If you want me to I will.”

“I want you to.”

Two girls, two smiles, one word:

Control.

 


	15. Chlamydia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just one today, guys. But I don't think I've been too stingy so far so it's chill. Also just as a side note, with regards to the smut and the sexual stuff, I'm not really bothered about tops/bottoms, it just goes how it goes for these two when I write. But Cheryl's 'control' thing, that's not sexual. It clarifies in her mind during those times because she's with Toni but her control and power infatuation is not about sex, its about her inner impulse control and finding peace and control over her own mind/life. I wasn't sure if it was getting muddied. Hope that's coming across, let me know if it was. (Also, no smut in this). Enjoy!

Reggie Mantle was an oaf.

In fact, if it wasn’t for his toned abs and nice haircut Cheryl wouldn’t even look at him, much less interact with him.

God she couldn’t _stand_ him, leaning against the gym wall, arms across his hard chest, that smug pout pinching at his lips, talking away no doubt about something asinine. What did he even have to talk about? Cheryl’s glaring eyes flicked over to the person with whom he was speaking, her perfect little height reaching barely to his chest and her lovely, fluffy, grassy smelling pink-stained hair flapping about her back as she laughed her raspy laugh along with him.

What did _they_ even have to talk about?

Cheryl thought back to the time she’d made out with him in the back of his car after a football game in sophomore year. She shivered. Slimy, hyper-masculine, boorish lout without two fucking _brain_ cells to rub together. He couldn’t start a fire if his brains were dynamite-

She froze, gripping her fingers painfully into her biceps as she stiffened her crossed arms, and her glare turned to a scowl.

She watched as Reggie’s arm reached out and his large, uncultured, disgusting _hand_ twirled a lock of Toni’s _perfect_ hair around a long finger before letting go and sliding it playfully down her arm.

He was _touching_ her.

 _Control_  yourself, Cheryl.

**He was _touching_ her.**

Cheryl….

She sucked a sharp breath in through clenched teeth, grinding them harshly.

Reggie _fucking_ Mantle was touching _her_ Toni.

Her knuckles turned white around her arms as that awful _hand_ lolloped out again to teasingly bop Toni’s nose. Both of them laughed.

Goddamn _conspirators._

She thought back to Saturday morning. That same nose had been pressed into Cheryl’s neck when she awoke, nuzzling at it in her sleep. They had been wrapped around each other like yin and yang, red and pink bleeding into one on the pillow. It was the most peaceful that Cheryl could remember feeling in a long time. Complete. She’d gazed at Toni’s face for a while, memorising the flickering of her eyes beneath their lids, the gentle wisp of her breath through her nose, the soft skin of her cheeks, slack and relaxed, pleading to be kissed.

In had been blissful.

And it had been _less than a damn week._

And here Toni was, lounging against the wall of the gym after assembly, _flirting._

With Reggie _fucking_ Mantle.

Cheryl regarded them both with filthy incredulity from her spot across the room, sitting rigidly between Betty and Veronica as they talked across her.

Reggie raised his hand, splaying his fingers out and pressed Toni’s tiny hand to it, comparing the differing sizes.

Oh _really?!_ That _dunce_ had no imagination, she might’ve guessed. The oldest fucking trick in the book to hold a girl’s hand.

 _Her_ Toni’s hand.

Those slender, delicate, skilled little hands.

It was the last straw.

She pushed herself off the bleacher bench, her jaw set fiercely tight, and ignored Veronica and Betty’s inquiries as to where she was going, shouting after her that they’d save her a seat at lunch.

Her heels clunked noisily against the wooden floor as she approached the _adulterous_ pair, her footsteps signalling the ticking seconds of the clock keeping time ‘til Reggie’s _death._

Deadman walking, folks. Time’s up.

“Reginald, Ginger is looking for you. Apparently you gave her chlamydia.” She hissed, her red lips pressed into a line and her stare just _daring_ him to retaliate. He laughed. The bastard _laughed_ and glanced at Toni who appeared to be as amused as she was utterly confused.

Don’t _look_ at her you _fucker_. Your eyes are not **_worthy_**.

“Cheryl,” he chuckled disinterestedly, “I did not give Ginger chlamydia.”

Oh just be **gone** , you pest.

“Well, in that case, she’s sorry but she gave _you_ chlamydia.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Wait what?”

“Go get swabbed, _whore._ ”

She unfolded her arms to push a scornful hand into his chest and he scoffed, slugging his bag over his shoulder and rolling his eyes. “Dammit not _again._ Catch you later, Toni.”

He smirked, winking at her as he left the two alone.

**Disgusting.**

“Eww.” Toni chuckled, watching him go before turning back to Cheryl with soft eyes, a grin threatening to spill onto her face. “Chlamyd-“

“Yes. Indeed. _Eww._ ” Cheryl snapped, her voice hushed to muffle them from surrounding ears. “You might well say ‘ _eww’_ because everything I just witnessed between you and that _beast_ was certainly most disgusting. ‘Eww’ is _very_ appropriate.”

Toni’s smile dropped. Cheryl could tell that she was conflicted, wanting desperately to slip into her defensive serpent mode but fighting to stay calm because it was Cheryl. Under different circumstances it would have made Cheryl melt.

“Pardon?”

Toni murmured it, dangerously quietly, and Cheryl saw the fingers of Toni’s right hand twitch on reflex. Clearly were she somewhere else with _someone_ else she’d have her knife out by now. She also noticed, smugly, how Toni had taken note of her advice to say ‘pardon’ instead of ‘what’ but she pushed that feeling of pride back into her long term memory to be boasted about at another time.

“He was _flirting_ with you, Toni. And you were _enjoying_ it.”

She refused to even consider the fact that Toni hadn’t noticed. In her time at the school just about _everyone_ flirted with Toni, even the straight girls. Even _Kevin_. Christ, Veronica was practically _in love_ with her. She just had that kind of charismatic magnetism. She knew what she did to people and she _knew_ when they were flirting.

“I know, Cheryl. What about it?”

Cheryl stopped, a million emotions whizzing round her brain. _What about it?_ She spun the wheel in her head, waiting as it ticked to a stop and finally landed on ‘ANGER’, alarm bells flashing loudly behind her eyes.

“What about it?! You were flirting, Toni! Right in front of me! With Reggie Mantle of all people!” She had to keep her hands clamped into fists to stop herself from flapping her arms around wildly, her tone remaining hushed but threatening to rise.

“I’m sorry, Cheryl. I wasn’t aware that I needed your fucking permission to live my life now. Where in the contract was that? ‘Stipulation: Stay overnight and have lots of sex, no longer talk to Reggie.’ Is that what it’s going to be like now? Where is this even coming from?”

Cheryl’s eyes darted around nervously. She had no real answer to that. She’d just felt raw jealousy and acted impulsively. Yet again.

“Well,” she started, buying herself some time, “are we not exclusive?”

Toni’s eyebrows shot up and she pushed herself off the wall, standing straight.

“Ok… I mean, _that_ is a completely separate conversation for us to have, Cheryl.” Her words sounded dangerously like a warning and it put an uncomfortable lump in Cheryl’s throat. “But I am _not_ ok with this kind of shitty toxic behaviour. Do you understand? Ok? Fucking distrust or suspicion or possessiveness are a million miles away from some light jealousy and I don’t allow it in _any_ of my relationships whether they’re friendships or more. I’m fucking serious. I like you, Cheryl. I really, _really_ do. I like you _a lot_. But you do _not_ get to tell me what to do, or who I speak to. I would not accept shit like this from a guy, and I won’t take it from you. And that, _that_ with Reggie, that was _harmless_ , Cheryl. I’m not interested in him, not that I need to explain myself, I’m not interested in anyone except you. Fuck. See you around.”

To Toni’s credit, she had remained incredibly calm given the situation. Her words were clear and precise, laying themselves out crisply in front of Cheryl like playing cards, showing her hand and waiting for Cheryl to either fold or play on.

Cheryl, on the other hand, was not calm at all. She felt panic rising in her chest, a nauseating churning moving up to her throat.

“Toni, I-”

But Toni was gone, stomping over to her serpent boys to join them on their walk to class.

The bell rang out then, seemingly louder than normal to Cheryl’s ears, and she winced swallowing thickly.

Good job, Cheryl.

Just _perfect_.

 

 


	16. Thirsty Much, Veronica?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this whilst cuddling a cat and it was fucking lovely. Enjoy.

Cheryl watched with resentful eyes as a pair of purple-painted, feminine lips stretched into a pretty smile, murmuring some inaudible, intimate appreciation before inching closer to the rugged, unrefined skin of a boy’s lips, meeting in a sweet kiss.

She could be doing that.

She could be doing that right now, behind the bathroom stall door, perched on top of the toilet seat, the light pressure of a serpent sat on top of her, hands winding into pink hair and whispering sweet praises against soft skin.

She wanted that.

Her chest clenched as she watched the lips meet again.

Goddammit she _wanted_ that.

A kiss, again.

She was jealous of it.

_Another_ kiss.

But jealousy got you here in the first place, didn’t it? That damn green-tinted lens through which you view the world has snatched that private bathroom tryst away from you, Cheryl Blossom because you couldn’t control yours-

They kissed again.

“Ugh, get a _room, Xenomorphs._ ” She sneered, peeling her gaze away from Archie and Veronica as they made-out shamelessly in front of her. “It’s lunchtime, we’re trying to eat and your kisses are _nauseating_.”

Veronica wiped her purple lipstick from Archie’s mouth, turning to Cheryl with a smooth, black eyebrow arching elegantly on her face and white teeth displayed in an intrigued grin, shining daintily like the pearls around her neck.

“Pray tell, what’s the reason Cheryl ‘Bombshell’ Blossom is in such a bad mood today?” She scoffed.

Cheryl held back a scowl and gave her a hollow stare, balling a napkin tensely in her hand.

“ _I need no reasons._ I just _am_.” She gritted, lips pulling into a catty smile. “I don’t appreciate, however, having to be a spectator to your casting couch audition.”

Kevin turned to her, cheek bulging with half-chewed sandwich and shock on his face.

“Cheryl how do you know about casting couch porn that’s not someth-”

“Toni!”

The sound of the name shot through her like ipecac syrup, gushing down her throat and swirling tempestuously in her stomach, lurching and bubbling its way back up to her mouth like vomit.

Oh god.

She stiffened, face strained.

“Toni!” Veronica repeated eagerly, pulling her hands from Archie, completely forgotten at her side, as she turned to greet her with a smile, beckoning her over.

Oh _god_.

“Come, come. Sit with us.”

Oh **_god_** _._

She heard a tray touch the table top with a neat click.

“Ronnie, hi.”

Oh that voice.

Like the crackle of an old gramophone. Deep and rumbling and soothing to the ear, gliding out sweet musical tones, like some comforting, nostalgic smooth jazz.

Sweet tones that had dared to whisper to her, _I feel like I belong._

Sweet tones that soothed her mind with lazy, easy conversation in the late hours of that Friday night as small hands played in red hair and kisses scattered over her bare, sweaty back and a tiny, warm body pressed itself against her so naturally, as if it were _made_ to be there.

Sweet tones which turned croaky with sleepy disuse as they’d accompanied a soft smile the following Saturday morning, so calm and raspy that they’d kept her muscles sunken into the mattress to lie with her for hours to just hold, and touch, and talk, and kiss, and feel _peace_.

Sweet tones that hadn’t sounded so sweet a few days ago in the gym.

Oh, Cheryl you fucking _idiot_.

She turned then, her breath catching in the tight clench of her lungs as she looked at her.

Toni.

Perfect little Toni.

She was stood at the end of the table, hooking her bag over her shoulder idly, a few strands of hair braided back from her  face and disappearing over the shoulders of her serpents jacket.

She looked so small in the vast expanse of the cafeteria.

How did someone so tiny contain such a big voice, unafraid to shout its opinions and tear down any _foolish idiot_ who challenged or offended them with out-dated, childish, _possessive_ behaviour?

She glanced at Cheryl.

Had she gotten more beautiful? Was Cheryl mad? Did that happen? She’d probably done it on purpose. Probably knelt down beside her bed last night with her hands clasped together and convinced whichever deity it was that created such a _marvel_ as she to bless her with _just a little_ more beauty today, just enough to teach Cheryl a lesson about the sin of _envy_.

She glanced away, turning to Veronica again.

“I’d honestly love to,” Toni smiled, _ugh that mouth_ , “but I promised to look over some homework with Fangs and Pea, they’re waiting for me. Sorry.”

Veronica rolled her eyes playfully, waving her hand.

“Ugh, you’re always with them, I’m so _jealous_.” She chuckled, earning her a curious look from Kevin.

Toni seemed to stiffen, picking up her tray and letting out a breathy laugh. Cheryl could tell it was forced.

“Yeah, you’re not the only one.”

Cheryl turned away at Toni’s words, whether from shame or frustration she wasn’t sure. It had played off successfully to the rest of the table as a smug joke, earning her smirks and chuckles as she’d walked away, but Cheryl caught their real intention and it bothered her.

_‘Distrust and suspicion and possessiveness are a million miles away from some light jealousy, Cheryl.’_

Indeed they were.

And as she gazed over at the serpent table, watching as Toni plonked herself down on top of it and crossed her legs, Cheryl realised she couldn’t risk having _her_ a million miles away too.

Take control, Cheryl.

“God her voice is so nice, I could talk to her for hours.” Veronica gushed, taking a gulp of her water.

Take control.

“Thirsty much, Veronica? You’ve got yourself quite the crush there.” Kevin teased, sending a twitch to the corner of Cheryl’s eye.

No, Cheryl. That’s not the answer, remember? We’re taking control of our impulses.

“Oh _stop_ , I just think she’s cool.”

We’re not letting them fester in our mind anymore.

“Nah, Ronnie it’s more than that, holy shit, you dropped me like a fucking turd when you saw her,” Archie laughed, “I mean, that’s fine by me, you should tell her how you feel.”

Taking control.

Kevin snickered. “Yeah, grow up and tell her how you feel. Maybe she feels the same way?”

And dealing with this _properly_.

“You’re totally right,” Veronica drawled, smirking as she played along with the gag, “Communication is key isn’t it? I need to compose my feelings and just _tell her_. You’re right. I’m gonna do it.”

_Take control, Cheryl._

Cheryl barely heard the resounding laughter of the other three as they reached their punchline, the muffled teases sent Veronica’s way sounding distant, her head clouding as her mind plunged under water.

Cold, clear water.

Their words echoed around her head.

_‘I need to compose my feelings and just tell her.’_

_‘You should tell her how you feel.’_

_‘Grow up and tell her how you feel.’_

_‘Communication is key.’_

_‘ **tell her how you feel.’**_

**_‘Grow up.’_ **

**_‘need to compose my feelings’_ **

**_‘just tell her.’_ **

**_‘GROW UP’_ **

**_‘compose my feelings’_ **

**_‘communication is key.’_ **

“Cheryl?”

She blinked, her mind gasping as it pulled back up for air, and looked to Kevin.

“Don’t you think?” he prompted.

Cheryl glanced at pink hair across the room and swallowed.

“Oh definitely,” She agreed, pressing her lips into a false smile, “Toni needs to know.”


	17. Gutiérrez Is Off Sick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think you'll all really like this one. I hope so. That's all I'll say. Let me know what you think. Peace.

“No, Toni, _stop._ You did _not_ that is _nasty_!”

Cheryl heard Kevin’s voice bellowing out of the rec room from the hallway as she approached, pausing before the door.

It was Thursday, and she had her free fourth period. She had no syllabus plans for herself this week, however, allocating this time instead to wallow in shame and pity for the gigantic fuck-up she had yet to rectify with a certain beautiful serpent.

“Toni, ewwww, why?!”

Betty’s voice this time, followed by a chorus of laughs. Cheryl picked one in particular out from the crowd, a sad smile accompanying the flutter in her chest.

You _idiot._

She’d thought about messaging her. She’d stayed up late night after night, her fingers balanced over the keyboard of her phone, her eyes reading over the last message sent to her on Saturday afternoon. _‘Thanks for a great night and breakfast, Bombshell. Have a good weekend, see you at school x.’_ She had stared at it for what was probably cumulative _hours_ , attempting time after time to just _type_ something. But the truth was she hadn’t known what to type. Nothing seemed to hold enough value over the phone. And after their interaction, or significant lack thereof, in the cafeteria two days ago, how _could_ she just send her a message?

“No, I’m getting away from you, Toni, you’re a jezebel. Frankly, I’m _jealous_.”

That word again.

“Enjoy your free period, lucky lady.” Kevin was still saying the words as he exited the room, a wide smile reaching his eyes as he walked arm in arm with Betty.

“Cheryl, hello! You look lovely.”

“Thank you, Kevin.” She smiled falsely at him. “Cousin Betty.” With a nod, she left them, inhaling deeply through her nose and curling her hands together as she stepped into the room.

And there she was.

Toni.

_Perfect little Toni_

Curled up like a kitten in the corner of a couch, her legs tucked beneath her as she relaxed into the back of it. A small hand dropped from the page of her book to her thigh, scratching absentmindedly at it through her tights before reaching up to curl some stray hair behind her ear. It was loose around her shoulders with two small buns fashioned onto the crown of her head. It was the first time Cheryl had seen it like that and she was completely, and utterly, enamoured.

 _God_ she was cute.

She couldn’t help but move towards her, coming to rest at a safe distance beside her.

_Grow up._

_Compose your feelings._

_Communication is key._

“Hi,” A weak start, “Do you not have fourth period?”

Toni looked up at her words, those lovely big eyes trying their best to remain hard and failing almost immediately.

She closed her book.

“No, Gutiérrez is off sick, she set cover work. So, I have a free.” It was monotone and distant but it lacked malice. Cheryl took this to be a good sign.

Letting out a deep sigh she dropped her bag from her back, motioning to the cushion next to Toni.

“May I sit? Please?”

“Free country, Cheryl. I don’t own you.”

She took the jibe like ice water to the face but she knew she deserved it, taking her place on the couch as she pressed nervous palms into her thighs.

_Just tell her how you feel._

_Communication is key._

It had been far too long since she’d smelled that shampoo. Felt that warmth next to her.

Far too long.

She wanted it _back._

_Grow up._

_Compose your feelings._

“I’m _sorry_.” She said quietly, barely above a whisper, but what she lacked in volume she accounted for in sincerity, staring deep into Toni’s eyes, her brow creasing upward.

Toni stared right back. She was no coward, this girl. Cheryl adored that.

Her eyes were so fucking pretty.

_Far too long._

She appeared to be waiting patiently, something she seemed to do fairly often for Cheryl.

“TT, I’m _so_ sorry. I’ve been wracking my brain trying to think of a more powerful way to articulate this to you but all I can say is that I am _truly_ sorry.” She pressed her lips together, scraping the bottom with her teeth and noticed that for a mere _nanosecond_ Toni’s eyes had looked to it before meeting Cheryl’s gaze once again.

Cheryl sighed.

“I have no excuses, Toni. I was possessive. And you’re right, that goes beyond jealousy, _I_ went beyond jealousy and it was not ok. I need to learn that people are not _things_. You are not _mine_. I am sorry that I disrespected that and I’m sorry for the awful things I said and I’d even be happy to apologise to Reggie if it would mean that you would forgive me. Even if I’ve regressed things between us right back to square one, I just want you to know that I have listened and I have understood, and I am sorry.”

Toni was quiet. She seemed to already have made up her mind, glancing at her hand indifferently.

Cheryl felt sick.

“It really wasn’t cool.” Toni agreed, nodding as she looked to Cheryl once more. “It was not. There are a lot of things about you that I’m having to deal with, Cheryl and I fucking _liked_ that and shit, I _don’t_ want to change you, but some things I need to speak out about if I feel they’re not ok. I’m not the type of person to just back down and agree if I don’t like what’s happening, you get it? Especially with people I care about.”

She paused. Cheryl was so tense she couldn’t even nod, her fingers tingling as white noise rang in her ears.

“I meant what I said, Cheryl. I’m not interested in anyone else, ok? I really do like you.”

The noise grew louder.

“I’ve been thinking, whilst we’ve been apart this week. About how great Friday night was,” she was smiling coyly, “ _and_ Saturday morning. And how shitty it felt to have you say the shit you said and how shitty it also felt to have you so distant this past week. So thank you for your apology, Cheryl. And thank you for listening to me. Just so you know, for future reference, shit, you don’t need to _grovel_ , I just need to know that I’ve at least been heard. Communication is key in a relationship, right? That’s some shit that they say isn’t it?”

Cheryl’s chest clenched.

_Communication is key._

Toni’s face cracked a little smile, reaching over to play with Cheryl’s fingers. “There’s just one thing that you said that I have to disagree with.”

Cheryl found her voice.

“What is it, TT? Whatever it is I’ll change it.”

Toni rolled her eyes, but her face remained playful. “See, dammit, Cheryl. I don’t want that, I don’t _want_ you to change for me, I mean fuck, that’d be toxic on _my_ side. I just want us to accommodate each other’s feelings.”

Cheryl nodded, “So what is it? Your disagreement.”

Toni’s smile morphed into a smirk, arming herself to fire her next shot and pausing dramatically before she spoke.

“I can be _yours_ if you want me to be.”

It was cliché and silly and, frankly, sounded almost like a joke coming from Toni’s perpetually cynical lips, but, Cheryl had never been so touched in all her life.

 And oh, how she _loved **touch**_.

_‘I can be yours if you want me to be.’_

Her brain fogged over, the ringing in her ears almost deafening now.

Dear lord she was about to faint. Had she been holding her breath this whole time?

“I would like that.” She said gently, her hand tightening around Toni’s as she flicked her eyes over her face, not yet daring to let herself smile in case this came crashing down around her as some hideous joke.

“Well then _ask_ me, Bombshell.”

“Ask you what?”

“Oh my god,” An eye roll, “Ask me to be your girlfriend, Cheryl.”

Oh wow.

Her pent-up breath rushed out of her in a laugh, finally allowing her grin to banner itself proudly across her face.

“Would you like to be my girlfriend, TT?”

Oh my god.

This was happening.

Oh my god.

Her third scuff.

Oh my **god.**

_Her third scuff..._

“Nah.”

“Oh, Cha-Cha _stop._ ”

“Well I was expecting a little more of a spectacle from Cheryl ‘Bombshell’ Blossom but if _that’s_ how you’re gonna do it, just _right now_ on an old scuffed up couch…”

“Why? Would you prefer a sack of potatoes?”

Toni stopped, pleasant surprise pulling her mouth open and hanging from a crooked smirk.

“That’s right, Toni. You’re not the only who makes jokes.” Equals, blow-by-blow. “But really, what do you want me to do-”

“Cheryl. _I was kidding_. I would love to be your girlfriend.”

Oh wow.

Oh _wow._

Two pairs of smiling eyes met each other as two pairs of smiling lips met each other, sealing their deal with a chaste kiss.

Oh **_wow_** _._

She had a girlfriend.

Of the only two things she’d ever wanted but couldn’t have, a living breathing brother and a romantic relationship with a woman, one was finally materialising.

Cheryl Blossom had a _girlfriend._

“Just so you know, Cheryl. I wasn’t blocking you out or giving you the silent treatment or any of that shit. I’m not immature like that. I say what I feel and I’m not afraid of confrontation. I guess you know that by now. I was hurt, sure. Pissed, too. But, I was just waiting until you were ready to come to me.” Toni explained, shifting closer to her. “I’m not gonna force _anything_ between us.”

Oh my god, she was her _girlfriend_.

“I know, TT. I know that.”

This seemed to make Toni smile and Cheryl watched as her hand was brought to chapped lips and the back of her pale knuckles kissed softly.

“It was hard though, you know.” Toni continued, a chuckle bubbling up from her chest as she gazed at Cheryl.

God that look was more inebriating than jingle-jangle.

“You just look so pretty all the time, Bombshell. I feel the need to be near you. Those damn lips of yours. Shit. And those striped pants you wore the other day in the cafeteria? So tight on your waist. Stunning. Don’t think I didn’t notice.”

Cheryl felt herself smirk, opposing the coy blush on her cheeks.

“Well, TT. For the record, j’adore your flannel-mesh aesthetic.”

“Thanks, Bombshell. You look gorgeous as ever today.”

“Of course I do, Cha-Cha. I always do. As do you, I love your hair.” She ran her fingers through it.

It was so _easy._ _This_ was so _easy_.

Sitting thigh to thigh, hands knitted together, slipping into the tranquil waters of it all and pouring a thick lather of rich, adoring, soapy accolades one after the other over one another, bathing in the bubbly warmth. So natural and temperate, habitual in its ease.  As if all her life they’d be doing what girlfriends do.

What _girlfriends_ do.

_You’re a **natural** , Cheryl._

**_This is natural._ **

 “So what were you talking about with Kevin and Betty?”

“You don’t wanna know, Cheryl.”

“Of course I do.”

“We were exchanging blowjob stories.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, you wanna know more?”

“No, thank you.”

“I thought so.” A smirk. “Do you wanna go make out in the bathroom instead, Bombshell?”

“You have cover work to do, Toni, remember? Gutiérrez is off sick.”

“I’ll let you touch my butt.”

A pause.

“ _Yes, please_.”

_What **girlfriends** do._


	18. Playground Collision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See now what we're not going to do is demonise my girl Heather, who happened to be an innocent child who fell in love and paid the same price as Cheryl. The first part of this chapter was really nice for me to write and I'm pretty happy with it, so here's hoping you are too. Edit: I've had some comments about Heather's mention of 'everyone is bisexual.' I'm using it a means of showing a 12 year old girl clumsily trying to work out her own sexuality and seeing more in the world than just heterosexual, to illustrate that one's identifying transition for their sexuality is not always as clear and particularly for young people. This is from my own life. My intention is definitely not to imply that gay and lesbian individuals do not exist, I can say this from my own experience. Hope that clears it up, it's not a reflection of something I believe. The whole nature and point of that part of the chapter is to illustrate how Cheryl's world surrounding her sexuality was opened. Thanks, happy reading.

“Bisexual?”

A 12 year old Cheryl Blossom had been reclining beneath an oak tree, the small, burgundy cotton cardigan of her private school uniform draped beneath her to shield her pleated skirt from the dirt on which she lay. A gentle summer breeze rustled the leaves above her, the smell of warm earth and grass itching at her nose. She had sat up on her elbows, an incredulous frown on her face, and grit pressing imprints into the pale skin of her arms.

“Yeah, bisexual.” Heather had been with her, lying prostrate on her back, one hand tucked beneath her head and the other picking idly at the grass, its knuckles dusted lightly with fading scabs. They matched the scuff on Cheryl’s knee, caused in the same playground collision.

The light had poked through the canopy above them occasionally, breaking apart their shade to dapple itself over Heather’s young face.

Cheryl had thought she looked wonderful.

“It means someone who is attracted to both girls and boys.” She clarified.

“I know what it means, Heather.” Cheryl had counteracted, plucking a daisy from the ground next to her hip and placing it on Heather’s white oxford clad stomach. “That’s what you think you are?”

Heather had taken the flower gently between her fingers and placed it affectionately into her breast pocket over her heart.

“That’s what I think _everyone_ is.” Heather had giggled, her teeth, due for braces in 2 months’ time, spilling out of her smile. “Does anybody only really like _one_?”

She had turned then leaning her pretty head on her hand to face Cheryl, the other still picking lazily at the blades of grass.

“What about you, Cheryl? Do you know what you like yet?”

 _You_. She had wanted to say, turning her gaze away to look out over the brightly hued field of verdant chartreuse in front of them. But then she had also liked Sebastian Beaufort with whom she had sat in her music lessons. His lips were pretty and pale, and his hair was blond, neatly parted on top of his kind, tanned face. He’d had bright blue eyes and called her ‘Cherry.’

“Yes. I suppose I like both too.”

“See!” Heather had chuckled, her face smudged into a smug grin as she lay back down, “ _everyone’s_ bisexual. And I think it’s _fantastic._ ”

Cheryl had smiled at this, Heather’s enthusiasm for life never failing to encourage a curve of her lips.

“I’m not sure it’s that simple, Heather. And anyway, some people aren’t so happy about it, are they? Mommy says anything like that is deviant.” She mumbled quietly, her eyes squinting at the brightness.

“Your mother also said that homeless people should be rounded up and used by the army as target practice.” Heather rebutted, rolling her eyes. “People like that are going to be left in the past, Cheryl. Times have changed. People are more accepting. Have you seen them? On the news? With their parades and their flags, people of all different races and sexualities and _all kinds of things_ celebrating who they are. Celebrating _what_ they are. The world is different now, we’re lucky, we can be who we want to be, Cheryl. And those people like your mother? Their words mean nothing these days. We don’t need to be ashamed. That’s why they call it _Pride_.”

Heather had closed her eyes as she spoke, impassioned by her own soliloquy and envisaging the world in which she dreamed to live playing out behind her eyelids.

Cheryl had been enchanted.

“That’s beautiful.” She’d whispered.

“Our future is beautiful, Cheryl.”

Cheryl had turned her head to smile brightly.

 _Our_ future.

 

 

 

 

“How did you know I like these cookies so much?”

Toni was nursing the treat slowly, had been doing so for 32 minutes in fact, the plastic packaging rustling noisily in the peaceful silence of the backseat of Cheryl’s car. Crumbs littered the floor on Toni’s side but, as she watched the satisfaction pass over Toni’s face with each blissful mouthful, Cheryl couldn’t find it within herself to resent having to vacuum them later.

They were sat at opposite ends, leaning against the doors with legs draped over legs in a familiar nest of comfort, parked up in a dark, secluded spot of Pop’s parking lot.

Cheryl had been massaging her fingers languidly into Toni’s calves which were tight from the Vixen’s practice they had finished hours ago.

Her hands stopped at the question.

She didn’t want to tell Toni the _real_ reason she’d bought it for her. Cheryl Blossom might _be_ a pervert but she certainly wasn’t going to expose herself as one.

And certainly not to the person she was perving _over._

“Everyone likes those cookies, TT. The cafeteria food is delightful.”

Toni seemed appeased by this, nodding her head and closing her eyes as she took her time to savour the last bite, swallowing it down slowly.

Cheryl watched her attentively, feeling like a dirty old man at a peep show, and looked away suddenly as Toni’s eyes re-opened to stare back at her, kneading her long fingers into short, toned legs once again.

“Mmm. That feels good, Cher.” Toni mumbled, leaning her head back against the thin glass pane of the window.

Cheryl’s lips twitched at the abbreviated nickname, squirming their way into a fond smile.

“So, when do you want people to know?”

Cheryl’s hands stopped again.

“To know about what, Toni?”

She watched Toni’s face tilt down to look at her, jiggling her leg lightly in her hand to encourage Cheryl to continue her massage.

Dutifully, Cheryl did.

“About us, Cheryl. That we’re exclusive. ” Toni explained, softly. “That we’re a thing.”

Her tone seemed caring and solemn. But her brown eyes were bright, animated as they looked at Cheryl and the corners of her lips were upturned into a smile that Cheryl didn’t think Toni even knew she was doing.

“What do you mean, TT? I don’t understand the question.”

Toni let out a breath through her nose, placing a hand to Cheryl’s thigh.

The skin was delightfully warm but the action still made Cheryl shiver.

“Look, I’m not trying to put an expiration date on it, ok? I want you to take all the time you need. We’ll do this at your pace, whenever you’re ready.”

Cheryl had never felt so obtuse in all her life. The words were so kind, so generous and thoughtful. So _Toni_.

She just had no idea what the _fuck_ they meant.

“Toni, what on _earth_ are you talking about?”

“ _Coming out,_ Cheryl,” She whispered, her desire to guard Cheryl’s privacy so strong that she’d forgotten they were alone in a locked car.

“Cher, if we go public with this, with our _relationship_ ,” Toni’s words even managing to _sound_ like the grin plastered to her face, before she was serious again. “Then everyone is going to know… you know… shit…” she was floundering, Cheryl wished she could help her, “…They’re going to know you’re not straight. That you’re … not what they assumed you were, right?  So, as much as I don’t want to keep this hidden, if you’re not ready yet, then I can totally wait.”

Cheryl wanted to kiss her.

Well, she _always_ wanted to kiss her.

But right now she wanted to _kiss_ her.

Toni Topaz was the single loveliest person on the planet.

**Fact.**

“It was never a secret, Toni. People’s assumptions don’t make something actual. I have nothing to hide. I like who I like and I always have.” She smiled proudly. “This is no different to any other relationship at Riverdale High and I have no qualms about _anyone_ knowing. In fact, I want _everyone_ to know.”

 _So that they could keep their damn hands off and their eyes to themselves_ , she thought to herself.

Now, now, Cheryl. Have you forgotten what happened last time you let your jealousy get the better of you?

_But she **is mine** now._

Stop it. **Take control, Cheryl.**

“But what if it gets back to your mother, Cheryl?”

Cheryl blinked.

During a brief reprieve in their Friday night sex marathon a week and a half ago, when Toni had stayed overnight at Thistlehouse, Cheryl had enlightened her as to why their rendezvous had to be clandestine, why her mother would not have approved of Toni’s presence in the house.

 _Deviance_.

So the worry she found swimming in Toni’s lovely eyes as they stared at her from across the car was not unfounded, nor unappreciated, but Cheryl found it unnecessary nonetheless.

“I don’t care.” She simply shrugged, a wistful smile on her face. “Her _knowing_ has never been the problem, she’s always _known._ She can do her worst, quite frankly. I found love before and she snatched it away from me, because she _wanted_ me scared, TT. But I refuse to be. I’m _not_. I won’t hide this. She can lump it. I’m not going to burden myself with the fear of consequences that may never even occur. Times have changed, Toni.” Her smiled turned nostalgic, she wouldn’t allow it to be sad, “We don’t have to be ashamed; that’s why they call it _Pride._ A friend once told me that.”

Toni was quiet and watching Cheryl with such a strong look, that was so foreign to her, it took a few moments for her to decipher what it was.

Adoration.

“That’s a great friend.”

They smiled, an unspoken agreement resting itself into the ether around them.

It was settled. They were going public.

 _Perfect_.

“Come here.”

Cheryl beckoned her over, slipping herself further onto the seat to lie down and pressed her spine into the back of it. She opened her arms and pulled, a very willing and _grinning,_ Toni into her body, spooning her comfortably from behind as her mind relaxed instantly.

She breathed in the smell of Toni’s shampoo, woody and fresh; reminding her of hours whiled away beneath an oak tree, and coiled two pale hands around a narrow waist, letting them come to rest on soft skin tailored over taut stomach muscles.

Touch.

_Perfection._

**_Control._ **

She sighed, placing her lips to the neck of Toni’s Vixen’s top and paving a path with them – softly, slowly – up the back of her spine to her hairline.

“You know people at school really will be accepting.” Cheryl whispered, pulling Toni in tighter and receiving a satisfied grunt, “It’s not like I’m the only one. There’s Kevin, and of course there’s _you_ , and if I’m honest I’ve got my suspicions about Veronica.”

“Oh hands off that one, Bombshell. She fucking wants _me_.”

“No but truly, TT. I think she does.” She chuckled against Toni’s hair as her grip tightened and she felt Toni’s stomach bounce in a husky laugh.

“Relax, Cheryl.”

And for once, she did.

 

 

 


	19. Raphael.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some really, really important setting up in these chapters with regards to Cheryl's background, inner thoughts and some metaphors that will come later. And some nice Betty action too.

“One word, ladies: deplorable.  Do it again. And tighten up that pyramid, you’re flapping around like a strumpet’s pelvic _floor_.”

Cheryl tapped her foot, scrutinizing the sorry excuse for a Vixens squad as they reluctantly slogged their weary bodies back into first position to run the drill yet _another_ time. In truth, they were faultless, but Cheryl had no tolerance for complacency amongst her team.

Her eyes travelled the line, stopping briefly to admire Toni in her little training uniform - and looking adorable as ever - past the insufferable Ginger, over Veronica and Josie, continuing down and down until, finally, they landed on Betty. Dear Cousin Betty. 

She looked raggedly tired.

Clapping her hands together, Cheryl caught the attention of the group once more and, in an unusual display of mercy, beckoned Betty over to her.

“Sweet cousin, I need someone with strong, manly shoulders to aid me over here in tidying away the ankle-weights. Chop, chop, come along.”

Despite the roll of her eyes, Cheryl noted, Betty looked relieved, jogging over to her and taking a grateful seat on a bleacher bench away from the group.

“Why didn’t you ask your _girlfriend_ to help you, Cheryl?”

Pausing for a mere moment, bent over a cardboard box with a weight in hand, Cheryl’s breath caught in her throat.

The student body had happily accepted her and Toni’s relationship for nigh on two weeks now, for the most part with sheer indifference – much to the disappointment of Cheryl’s dramatic flair – and the couple had experienced no insidious looks, or words or behaviour. No negativity at all, least of all from their friends. They had been met with nothing but kind words and shrewd smirks – a _suspicious_ gleam of interest in Veronica’s eyes – and a comfortable basin of acceptance and normality in which to sit themselves, blending in nicely with the rest of the crowd.

_No need to be ashamed; that’s why they call it Pride._

She let go of the weight in her hand and watched as it dropped to the bottom of the box, paranoia wrapping itself around her ears.

Was there was something in Betty’s words… were they snide? _Mocking_? Had she been a fool to think that the acceptance of her peers was an inevitability purely because of who she was? Had times really not changed at all? Had her precious young Heather been wrong? Of all people would _Betty_ be the one to oppose? For, surely, if Betty did, then they _all_ did. They _all opposed._ A hyena pack, of the _all opposed_ , an ensemble gathered tightly together behind her back, baring their teeth in false smiles of congratulation and stretching their limber spines, laughing at her as they lay ready to wait, to hunt, until just the right moment to pounce…

She didn’t dare turn around.

“Pardon?” Cheryl said quietly, frost threatening to snipe at the edges of her words. Her teeth were clenching, eyes wide and loaded to kill, her defences sliding up as sirens blared in her ears. HBIC didn’t bellow from the back of her shirt in thick blue lettering for nothing. She was Cheryl fucking _Blossom_. And she was ready to show it.

**Take control, Cheryl.**

She stood, finally twisting to face her.

Because you _dumb cow-_

Betty was smiling.

No ear to ear grin but a soft, welcoming, knowing smile that crept sleekly up one side of her face to meet her friendly blue eyes.

Oh thank _God._

_Control_ yourself, Cheryl.

_No pressure, be Chill._

_You’re a **natural**._

“I said why didn’t you ask Toni to help you with this? How are things with the _girlfriend_ anyway?” Betty’s voice was soft, conspiratorial, alleging this to be words passed only between them.

Fun _girl talk_.

She seemed excited, genuinely interested as her neck craned closer to Cheryl, a wriggle of fair eyebrows dancing on her forehead. Her smile remained persistent on her face and she brought a foot up to rest on the bench, looping her arms around her shin to rest her chin on her knee, regarding Cheryl with eager eyes. “New relationship, Cheryl. Exciting huh? We haven’t had a chance to talk about it together yet.”

Cheryl smiled.

Where was your darkness now, Betty Cooper?

“It’s wonderful. I didn’t take you for a gossip, Betty. But, it’s wonderful. She’s wonderful.”

She spared a hasty glance back at the group to find Toni being lifted into position on Veronica’s count and smiled wider.

_Adorable_.

“You really like her.”

Cheryl turned back to meet blue eyes, finding not even a speck of judgement within them.

“Yes.” She fought a blush. “I do.”

Betty stood then, sucking her lips into her mouth to try to stem the flow of her grin and moved closer to help Cheryl pack the box.

They worked diligently for a moment, Cheryl thinking contentedly of sweatpants for pyjamas and private lock-ins in school bathroom stalls.

“I figured it out, you know.”

Betty whispered it, moving her head closer and studying her eyes over Cheryl’s face.

“Figured out what, Betty?” Cheryl whispered back, disinterestedly, fighting to keep the harsh notes of apathy from her tone.

Some other true-crime _bullshit_ with Jughead that Cheryl wasn’t in _the least_ bit interested in, no doubt, about the school, or the government or who-

“It was Toni.” A smirk tugged at the corners of Betty’s mouth and she seemed satisfied with her explanation despite its vagueness.

Cheryl merely frowned in reply.

“Your relationship; a little coincidental to have happened only a little over _6 weeks_ after Archie’s party correct, Cheryl?”

Cheryl’s breath caught.

“The party where you _lost your virginity…”_

Realisation sheathed itself over Cheryl in a fell swoop as she watched a grin form on Betty’s face.

“…it was Toni. Wasn’t it?”

Goddamn that murder mystery brain, Nancy Drew.

“Yes.”

“I _knew_ it.”

Betty’s face erupted with satisfaction, finally having clarified her suspicions.

“Don’t worry, Cheryl. I’m glad I was right, for your sake. Toni is a great person. Everyone thinks so. But, I won’t tell anyone. They’ll work it out for themselves eventually. To be honest I’m surprised more of them haven’t guessed it already.”

Cheryl wasn’t. Despite how glaringly obvious it might have seemed, these plebeians refused to see past the end of their own noses.

“Well, good work, Cousin Betty. Your sleuthing skills aren’t due for the glue factory yet it seems.”

Betty turned to her, straightening her back as her demeanour changed icily, crossing her arms over her chest and staring directly into what felt like Cheryl’s long-term memory, her words hoping to burn themselves into it.

“And, seriously, Cheryl if _anyone_ at this school has a problem with your relationship…” She said slowly, precisely, dropping her voice, eyes wide and stern, slipping seamlessly into the cloak of her so-called ‘darkness’ “…I will make their lives _very_ miserable. You have my _word._ ”

Was this pride that Cheryl was feeling?

“You’re a stone cold bitch, Betty Cooper.”

They shared a look, then, a scarce moment for this particular pair, smirking in gratitude and mutual respect, their mess of interwoven familial grievances forgotten for now.

Vixens.

Cousins.

 “Erm, excuse me, Cheryl?”

Cheryl rolled her eyes as she recognised the simpering voice behind her, flipping her hair over her shoulder and turning around.

“What is it, Ginger?”

“Uh, sorry to interrupt but… did you tell Reggie Mantle I gave him chlamydia?”

Betty barked a laugh.

_Friends_.

 

 

 

 

Cheryl had been 4 years old when her gift, and passion, for art was awoken.

It had been a Saturday, mid-March, and she had just scampered into the playroom of Thornhill’s illustrious east-wing after her bath. She’d been riding, as her and Jason had done every Saturday morning since they could walk, taking their lessons together on the vast grounds of the estate. She had loved it. The crisp wind on her face, the heavy, resounding thump of the hooves on grass, the sheer power of controlling an animal five times her size. She’d love every bit of it.

But she especially loved her pony, Raphael.

He was a deep caramel brown, his shiny coat catching in the sunlight and swirling over his powerful muscles like molten milk chocolate, the coffee bean black of his tail and mane plaited neatly into little white bows.

Cheryl thought he was beautiful.

And so, as she’d tugged her little wooden chair across the floor, scooting in tightly beneath her writing table, she had decided that she would pick up a pencil - not in her fist like the other children at her private preparatory school but properly betwixt the beak of her thumb and first two fingers - to draw him.

Later that afternoon, the drawing lay long forgotten in the playroom and as Cheryl had been sat at the marble kitchen counter, swinging her tiny legs beneath her and eating her apple slices with maple syrup; she had overheard a conversation in the hallway between her mother and the nanny.

“A rather _juvenile_ undertaking don’t you think?” Her mother had spat, clearly unimpressed. “Really, Martha. You’re supposed to be working, we do _not_ pay you to sit in the children’s playroom and _draw pretty pictures_. I am having second thoughts about your tenure here.”

Despite her advanced intelligence, 4 year old Cheryl hadn’t known what ‘tenure’ had meant, but she had deduced from the familiar venom of her mother’s tone that Martha was in trouble.

4 year old Cheryl didn’t give a _shit_.

“Mrs Blossom, I insist, _really_ it wasn’t me. I would never waste work time, _ever._ And besides, I could never draw like _that_ , I’d be happy to prove it if you-“

“Hush!”

Martha had been silenced by the single word spat harshly at her through Penelope’s clenched teeth.

“One of the children did this?”

“They must have, Mrs Blossom.”

“Jason?”

“Unlikely, ma’am. He’s still at the paddocks. He’s been there since this morning. I did see Cheryl drawing earlier, though. After her bath.”

“Cheryl?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

There had been a pause then.

“You are dismissed.”

Cheryl had heard a spattering of retreating feet and looked up to see her mother inching into the kitchen watchfully, her foreboding shadow coming to rest over Cheryl in the wake of the afternoon light.

She had stopped beside the counter, placing the drawing next to Cheryl’s plate.

“Cheryl, dear. Did you draw this?”

Cheryl had glanced at it, her tiny pink tongue poking out to lick some stray syrup from her sticky lips.

“Yes, mommy. It’s Raphael.”

Her mother’s brain had appeared to be ticking over in thought, staring intently at the immaculate sketch in front of her.

It really _was_ Raphael. Cheryl had captured his essence entirely. His esteeming pride, his abounding independence, his begrudging nature and reluctance to submit to anyone other than little Miss Cheryl Blossom herself. Horses were hard enough to draw accurately even with the best of efforts. But this little picture, this discarded child’s illustration had gone far beyond that in its beauty and realism. The animal flew about the page, the gray of its graphite edges bucking and braying proudly as it galloped across the expanse of endless white.

One did not simply look at it; one gazed upon such an image, taking time to appreciate the detail.

And as one gazed, it wasn’t just _a horse_ that one saw.

It was _Raphael._

“Cheryl,” Penelope had begun, her tone lighter than usual but still guarded, “This… is very good. Very good. I think … we will hire you a tutor, with whom you can draw more pictures.”

4 year old Cheryl had looked up at her mother, her small, pricelessly gifted hands placed neatly on the counter.

“Thank you, mommy.  I would like that very much. And, also, I _want more apple. **Now**_.”

 

Thus, with almost immediate effect, an art tutor had been hired.  He had been, truly, the best that money could buy.

Perfection, for the Blossoms, was of course an obligation.

However, by the time she was 10 years old Cheryl was better than him.

Her eye for shape and colour. Her instinctual choices towards tone and narrative. Her innate ability to recognise the complex contouring of light and manipulate it onto her page with a skilled mastery.

She understood it.

She just _got_ it.

It got _her_.

It flowed out of her fingers so naturally, taking on a mind of their own.

She simply thought, and then drew.

An intrinsic artistic cognisance.

Not just with her own creations either. With all works of art. She could critique, interpret, construct, de-construct and re-construct again, analyse and understand, notice patterns and influences, create, improve, comment on future trends and underground movements, and speak on the motives and experiences of the lives and minds of artists of whom she knew nothing about.

She was a **_natural_**.

The way her pieces evoked reaction, made the onlooker _feel_ things, it simply could not be taught.

This went beyond her academic prowess. This was more than just another subject she could ace. Rather than the formulaic application of a keen mind and educational discipline that she used to churn out her 4.0 GPA, this was _passion_.

This was _freedom_.

This was the ability to envisage whatever she liked inside of her head and replicate it. Replicate its essence of liberty and self-determination with a nuanced talent bestowed, so rarely, upon only the most blessed.

For most, this would be a gift.

For Cheryl, this was **art.**

**This** was a beauty that she could **_control_** and, more importantly, _it could control **her**_ **.**

Art, it seemed, could bring her peace.

 


	20. Absolute Heaven and Baroque Hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know when you write something and you're like, yeah, that's not bad? This did it for me. Religious metaphors and art shit and all that crap. I think you might like it. But, honestly, in terms of their relationship/plot this is pivotal. Pivotal, pivotal shit. Enjoy.

Cheryl was looking at a painting, currently, from her position on her bed, observing the way it hung precariously from a decades old nail shunted haphazardly into the wall opposite.

She remembered it vaguely from her childhood, she recalled, raking her eyes over the canvas, brought out of the dim confines of the attic by her mother after eons of captivity. Sprinklings of its long-earned collection of dust still visible in the nooks of the ornate gold frame.

When they’d first arrived at Thistlehouse, after her mother had recuperated from her hospital stay in the wake of the _truly tragic_ Thornhill fire, Cheryl had been welcomed, on that very same wall, by a wonderful Pre-Raphaelite print of ‘Hylas and the Nymphs.’ Ever since she’d seen it as a child, it had been one of her favourites. The light which bounced from their pale skin, the softness of their pretty faces, the way you could almost _hear_ the trickling lap of the water. Peaceful. Romantic. Sensual.

It had captivated her.

But due to her past indiscretions with girls and Cheryl’s apparent penchant for _deviance_ , her mother had deemed the female nudity and sexual connotations inappropriately stimulating and had removed it from the wall the next morning whilst Cheryl had been at school. She had substituted in its place the monstrosity which Cheryl was currently regarding as she reclined on her bed.

This one was dark. Haunting. Baroque in influence, she had noted straight away. Deafening religious undertones sang out from it like the melancholy drone of Gregorian monks. Depictions of slaughter and panic, screaming tortured faces peering out ominously from a frenzied weaving of limbs and bodies, bloodied and desperate, clinging despairingly to the last glimpse of life as they paid for their hubristic sins. The thunderous, frantic melody of an eerie church organ rang in her ears as her eyes darted between them, their screams rumbling out to beg for mercy, drowned out by the final resounding chorus. Truly nightmare inducing. And specifically selected, Cheryl had no doubt, as a glaring, ugly reminder of the fate of the _deviant_.

Ironic then, really, that Cheryl happened to be gazing upon such a painting as she lay, legs bent at the knee and spread widely apart, with her girlfriend’s tongue lapping eagerly between them, two talented, slender and distinctly _feminine_ fingers pushing deeply inside her.

Her mother’s reaction to such an irony would truly be the prettiest picture of them all.

“God, _Toni.”_  She groaned breathily, a soprano whimper singing out of her lips. She tore her eyes from the murderous scenes, closing them as a frown melded onto her brow.  She was steadily approaching her third orgasm of the night, Toni already having gained _her_ trifecta from Cheryl, as she enjoyed the firm, wriggling pressure of nimble fingers toiling away enthusiastically, in and out of her.

The warmth of Toni’s mouth disappeared for a moment.

“Cheryl for God’s sake. Be quiet.” She whispered lowly, quickly resuming the fucking _delectable_ flicking of her tongue and hooked her fingers inside her.

Don’t do it Cheryl. Don’t let it out. Don’t you do it. That’s it. Squeeze those eyes shut and clamp those lovely teeth down onto your bare lip and restrain your stallion whip of a tongue. Detain your shameless noises in the prison of your mouth, even as the soft pressure of Toni’s caresses you dotingly in that _perfect_ way that makes your eyes roll back and your chest feel tight. Clench your fingers into the rich thread count of your sheets and tug ‘til _breaking_ _point_ but don’t _don’t_ open your throat to let out the clamours of whimpered praise that are climbing up for freedom like the poor souls trapped in the portrait opposite you, Cheryl _don’t._

Toni moved faster.

Control yourself, Chery-

“Oh **_GOD…_** _”_

This time Toni pulled away completely, slipping her head out slowly from underneath the sheets, her ears pricking up like a dog to listen out for any approaching sounds.

Her mother was in the house. She was sleeping, _hopefully_ , at the opposite end of the long corridor which travelled the length of the building’s second floor. This was the third time in two weeks that Cheryl had managed to sneak Toni in under the cover of darkness, unbeknownst to her mother and Nana Rose. Whilst Cheryl was no longer worried about Penelope finding out that her deviant ways were in full swing and that she was - wantonly - dating a girl, coitus-interruptus at the hands of one’s own mother was not something she, or _anyone_ , wanted to experience regardless of the partner  with whom she was doing it.

Before, the idea of being caught red-handed, or rather _sticky_ handed she thought, had been too much of a devastating risk. But now they were together. Exclusive. _Girlfriends_. And the rewards of having Toni in her room far outweighed the threat of being discovered _so long as they were **quiet**_ **.**

Cheryl wanted Toni here. She wanted her around. With her. And in the frequent eventuality that Toni was locked out of her uncle’s trailer for the night Cheryl simply couldn’t _stand_ to know that she was alone in her warm four-poster bed whilst Toni borrowed sleep on Sweetpea’s couch.

“TT, continue.” Cheryl ordered impatiently, panting as she nudged her with her foot and pushing her head back down between her legs with a frown. “She didn’t hear.”

She was just so _close_ , the familiar warmth was clawing at her between her legs, begging to be released, just a little more, just a _little more…_

“Shhh...” Toni soothed softly in reply, pulling away from the insistent fingers in her hair and rubbing her free hand tenderly over Cheryl’s thigh. She listened out for a few more seconds before turning her attention back to Cheryl.

Cheryl was certain that Toni was used to violence and danger, pounding fists and slicing blades, the excruciating sting of a Taser and never straying from the streets that you knew. Hiding drugs from the police and wiping blood from brass knuckles, the literal _smell_ of brains on the side walk and the leering stare of _packs_ of predatory men. Hands slipping desperately on blood as a witness was held down and tortured for answers. Kicking a bowl of water across concrete to a kidnapped rival handcuffed with their teeth pulled out spitting blood onto the floor, and dealing weapons surreptitiously over a bar with a drink as you kept a cautious eye over your own shoulder. The grime and the piss and the shit and the _fear_ of the seedy existence that was underground organised crime. Gang culture; she would have lived it all. But the sinister threat of Penelope Blossom - that didn’t arrive in the form of loud, chain-wielding Ghoulies with whoops and cries and motorcycle rumbles - the ominous, unknown, unfamiliar danger of secret upper-class connections that could ruin futures, seep poison along the roots of family trees and turn a blind eye to remain safely untouchable should someone happen to _go missing_ … that was different.

Cheryl knew it all too well.

“Be _quiet_ , Cher.” She husked, calmly, truly _imploring_ at this point.

“Ok, Toni. I will.”

“You promise?”

“ _Yes_ , Cha-Cha.”

Toni bit her lip and pressed her fingers upwards.

Oh dear, Cheryl.

Oh no.

_Don’t._

“ ** _Ugh!_** ”

“Ok that’s it, we gotta stop.”

Cheryl almost growled as she felt the fingers hastily removed from her.

Goddammit, Blossom.

Be chill.

She sighed, adjusting her head on the pillow as she looked up at Toni’s dimly lit face, noting instinctually how the light cast soft hues of yellow over her cheeks and lightened her glassy eyes beautifully. She looked as if she were tenderly sculpted from the purest clay by Aphrodite’s very hand and Cheryl ached to reach out with her talented pale fingers and leave her own mark on the masterpiece.

A true magnum-opus.

“TT, come here.” She murmured softly, placing her hands on either side of Toni’s face, drawing her down on top of her. She rubbed her thumbs across freckled cheeks lightly, nudging the tip of her nose along the smooth bridge of Toni’s, staring down at her lips. “Sorry.” She whispered, a feather light brushing of their mouths as she spoke causing her eyes to flutter shut.

_God_ this girl was intoxicating.

“Can we try again?”

She felt the nod against her face, opening her mouth just slightly to close it gently around Toni’s top lip, her hands still gripping soft cheeks as a sigh wisped out of her nose.

Toni really was so good to her.

She released her mouth slowly, two pairs of lips sticking together in a way that curled her toes and made the hairs on the back of Cheryl’s neck stand on end. All breath and warmth and skin pressed down together like igneous rock, slowly, oh so slowly taking their sweet time to rouse.

“You’re so pretty,” Cheryl continued, breathing the words into her mouth more than saying them as she pressed their lips together again, lingering them there, suspended in enraptured comfort as time seemed to turn its clock-face away from their intimate moment, happy simply just to wait for them. “I could kiss you all day, TT.”

Toni sighed, pressing her head down a little closer to indulge her and the sweet, patient pressure tingled at Cheryl’s lips as they kissed again, gently, sending a fluttering surge through her chest.

**_Perfection_**.

Oh _God_ Cheryl was obsessed.

Was that normal after just over two months?

She curled some of Toni’s hair affectionately behind her ear, feeling Toni’s smile against her own.

“I really like you, Cheryl.”

It was whispered faintly against her lips and blew so lightly into her head that had it not been for the familiar raspy timbre of the voice, Cheryl might’ve thought it merely to be the soft rustling of her silken curtains, blown teasingly through an open window by the night breeze.

Shit, she was in deep.

She was thankful that their eyes were still closed because in the cocoon of bedsheets and lamplight that they had constructed for themselves, far above the wilderness of Riverdale and reality, Cheryl wasn’t sure she was ready for the gravity of what she might see in Toni’s face to snatch hold of her and plummet her into descent too hastily.

“I really like you too.”

She could feel Toni’s little heart beating rapidly through her shapely ribs and sending thuds into the hollow of Cheryl’s chest.

“Do you really mean that?”

The guarded vulnerability in the words of such a normally so fearless girl made Cheryl’s chest ache, tilting her head up to pressed a slow, stirring kiss to Toni’s cheek.

“Utterly,” Cheryl whispered.

And she did. She really, _really_ did.

She felt a shift of weight above her then and her chest compressed under Toni’s body.

That comforted heavy feeling. _That_ feeling that she loved so much.

Chapped lips lay obliquely across hers, puckering just so as Cheryl felt the pad of a finger rub unhurried circles into her clit.

She sighed against the barricade of Toni’s mouth, slipping one hand from Toni’s cheek to slide under her arm and press down onto her slim back, holding her tight to herself and gripping her fingers into the soft cotton of Toni’s t-shirt gently.  The other hand came to rest in pink hair, cupping the back of her head.

Absolute _Heaven_.

She held on tightly, rolling her forehead against Toni’s as lips tugged languidly at lips and breath caught against breath and Toni’s finger steered her closer to the edge of that enveloping pool of warmth, drifting slowly, blissfully along with the current as the tepid waters carried her.

The voice from her head settled coolly over her heated skin like mist as it blew its foggy whisper into her ear.

_‘This is it, Cheryl Blossom. This is what peace feels like. True **peace** , Cheryl. It’s heavenly isn’t it? And you’ve been so **good** , Cheryl, you truly have, waiting all these 17 years after such **tragedy**. So **much** for such a young life. You **deserve** it. You’ve **earned** it. And her? That **angel** lying above you, shielding you from the **monstrous** peril of damnation which faces you every morning as you wake, threatening to loosen itself from the wall and **get** you, Cheryl, well **she’s yours now.** Hold her tighter, little girl, **tighter**. Do you feel it, Cheryl? The sheer **warmth** she gives you? Do you **feel** it? Sink into it, Cheryl, let go and **sink. You deserve it.** ’_

She gasped quietly, deeply, her open lips pressed messily to the side of Toni’s, just as their tongues bumped gently together and felt herself tip backwards over the ledge and into the pool, holding Toni to her body as the warmth finally took control. She rolled her eyes back in her head, moaning almost soundlessly against a freckled cheek as her hips stuttered and limbs tensed, a ringing in her ears closing off all senses except one.

_Touch._

‘ _Just float, little bird. **Hold on to her and float.** ’_

And then there was peace. Silence.

Perfection.

Small, tender circles came to a stop as Cheryl’s body relaxed and slow kisses were pressed sweetly to each of her cheeks and lips until she opened her eyes.

Holy **shit**.

“You ok, Bombshell?” A kind whisper. Raspy. Compassionate.

Cheryl could only nod, looking up at the smiling, attentive face of Toni Topaz, those lovely big eyes soft and open, the profundity of their moment passing wordlessly between them.

She was beautiful.

She was Toni _._

She was **_art_** _._


	21. Bullseye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy.

The thud of an arrow spearing densely into wood upon impact was a sound that would simply never cease to please Cheryl Blossom.

The creak of the bow, the strained resistance of it as it fought against her hand, tamed by its master, like Raphael, as it pulled and bent into obedience. The wait. The stillness. The perfect combination of angle, precision, wind speed and trajectory, distance. The pause. The final breath. The final _release_.  Leaving on command. The hiss of the dart as it shot rapidly through the air, faster than the human eye could calculate. And then, finally, a second later; that dull, punching, satiating thump as it pierced into the target, protruding proudly from its kill.

It was _orgasmic._

She had been 14 years old, practicing at the target range on the estate one afternoon in September. The air was chilling seasonally on the backdrop of an overcast sky and the smell of mulch and decaying foliage had delighted her nose spicily as she’d planted her patent boots into the ground with a crisp crunch, knees rigid and straight. It gave her such a sense of freedom. **Power**. To know you held a deadly weapon in your hands, skilled and trained and ready to use it. Able in mere seconds to determine just the right arc to _kill someone_.

It was intoxicating.

Peaceful.

She had been informed, a mere hour prior, that Heather was to be leaving Riverdale soon to attend a private convent school in Oregon. They would not be starting Riverdale High together in two weeks’ time as they’d planned. They would not be forming the foundations of a new, beautiful, innocent, first-love companionship. And, as it would come to light years later, they would not be seeing each other ever again.

Cheryl was simply, and wholly, heartbroken.

Her mother had smiled when she’d told her.

 _Smiled_.

A twisted, satisfied, self-serving _grimace_ of a smile.

‘ _That should put an end to your nonsense, Cheryl. Try being deviant nearly 3000 miles away.’_ She had chuckled.

**_Bitch._ **

They couldn’t have sent her further away.

They may as well have killed her. And Cheryl too.

In many ways she’d wished they had.

Jason had attempted to comfort her, but she had decided that she’d needed to be alone, with her thoughts and her bow.

She’d bent to pick an arrow from the rack, pointing it to the ground as she had hooked it to the string and noticed glumly how shiny her boots were. Spotless. New. Unmarked.

No scuffs.

God those _bastards_.

She’d brought up her arm, straight and perpendicular to her body, her jaw set tightly.

_They’d taken her Heather._

She pulled on the string.

‘ _I think I love you, Cheryl.’_

Nimble fingers coaxed back further.

_‘Our future is beautiful, Cheryl’_

She’d closed one eye, honing in on the intricate ‘B’ initialled on the target board.

_They’d **taken** her **Heather**._

She heard the words of her archery coach echo in her head.

_“Pull back to your chest and release it from you heart, Miss Cheryl. The arrow always leaves from the heart.”_

The string had pressed into her plump lip, a shuddering breath leaving her mouth as she counted 3… 2… 1…

**_They’d taken her Heather._ **

She’d released it with a grunt, watching as it whistled through the cold autumn air, her teeth clenching as it clunked into the target. Smack in the middle of that hideous, _traitorous_ ‘B.’

B for Blossom.

B for _bastards_.

B for **_bullseye._**

**_They’d taken her._ **

Tears had stung at her eyes, a wrenching, aching, clutching pain clenching at her chest as she thought of dappled skin and daisies and burgundy cardigans and sweet kisses under bedsheets and that irreplaceable feeling of loving and _being loved_ in return.

‘ _We don’t have to be ashamed. That’s why they call it Pride.’_

She’d let out a choked sob, grabbing another arrow from the rack and pulling it deftly, expertly into position again, crying openly and earnestly now, tears fogging her vision as she’d let go and shot it into the board with a gratifying smack sheer millimetres from the last.

Straight from the heart.

**_Bullseye._ **

_They’d taken her Heather._

Her precious Heather.

_‘Times have changed, Cheryl. Those people are going to be left in the past.’_

People like her _evil_ mother. With that scrawny, aristocratic, _smiling_ face, baring her teeth as she’d torn Cheryl’s life to feathery scraps like some scheming fox in the henhouse.

She’d sniffed, eyes hard and hateful, tears dripping silently over pale cheeks, rouged by the autumn air and plucked another arrow.

This one was for her _mother._

She had raised it, fists tight, chest shaking with longing and grief and _rage_.

She’d retracted it slowly, inch by inch, calculating, perfection.

_An obligation._

She’d let out her breath, one tearful eye closing as she looked at the board and envisaged her mother standing there.

 _Smiling_.

‘ ** _Nearly 3000 miles away._** _’_

Her lip had quivered, eyes stricken with pure, lonely pain as she’d positioned her bow _just right_.

“You took her away.” She’d whispered aloud, teeth grinding, chest aching, arms shaking with strain.

_‘The arrow always leaves from the heart.’_

She’d let go, watching soundlessly as it landed precisely in the middle with the others once again and lowered her arms.

The arrow was still vibrating from the force. Sticking out of the splintered wood, split and broken and pierced. Irreparable damage.

Just like her fucking heart, she’d thought.

Wiping tears from her cheek she’d swallowed hard.

**_Bullseye._ **

 

Cheryl wrapped her hand around the cool glass of her milkshake, taking the paper straw in her fingers and swirling a slow figure of eight into the cream. She watched the colours mixing, white into pink, and smiled.

Like pale white skin and soft pink hair, she pondered.

“And your chocolate too, there ya go.”

She looked up as Pop placed another glass onto the diner table top with a generous clunk and pressed her lips into a smile, nodding her thanks.

Turning around with the drinks, she glanced over at the booth in the back corner that she and Toni had managed to attain earlier in the evening, despite the busy number of customers. It was almost empty now; nearing close to midnight, the chatter and noise from hours ago now replaced by the gentle din of the jukebox, the occasional clink of a fork, rumblings of low conversation and the crisp footsteps of her heels on the linoleum tiles as she traversed the sparsely vacated seats. The lights were dimmed lower and the smell of coffee hung faintly in the air, settling into a sluggish stillness.

She noticed Toni had been staring, looking away with a snap of her head to peer out of the window at the parking lot. Cheryl wondered why she had felt the need to look away when they both knew _she_ stared at Toni all the time but she paid it no mind, chalking it up to the maintenance of her ‘indifferent badass’ reputation.

“There you go, TT.” She said softly, not wanting to break the smoky haze of the ambience as she set the glasses down on the table. She pulled her hair over one side of her neck, bending her legs and slid into the booth next to her, scooting along to press against her as Toni sat squashed into the corner.

“Thanks, Cher.” She murmured, rubbing a finger under her eye as she hooked her legs over Cheryl’s lap and leaned forward to take a drink.

Cheryl watched her, wrapping an arm around the little legs that lay settled comfortably on top of hers and reached out to brush a strand of pink hair behind her ear, craning her neck to press a soft, tender kiss to Toni’s cheek.

God it was so _soft_. And warm. She felt it bulge under her lips slightly, Toni smiling fondly in reaction to it and pulled her lips away as they both sat back.

“You look tired, TT.”

Cheryl stroked the back of her finger along Toni’s cheekbone.

“I am.” Toni sighed, her fingers playing with the hem of Cheryl’s blouse. “I was up all night with Serpent business and then I got home to find I’d been locked out again, so I had to sleep at Fang’s, but his mom was screaming at her boyfriend all fucking night and it, I mean whatever, I didn’t get a lot of sleep.” She murmured, settling back into the corner and closing her eyes.

Cheryl felt a weight in her chest, rubbing her thumb on the skin of Toni’s knee.

“Is Fang’s ok?”

This seemed to waken Toni slightly, an eyebrow arching on her face as she opened her eyes to look at her.

 _That’s right, Toni. Taking control. Composing our feelings, and thinking of others_.

Toni smiled.

“Yeah, he is. He’s used to it. He just sleeps right through it now.”

“You should’ve come to Thistlehouse, Toni. I’d have snuck you in.”

“I appreciate that Cher, but it was 3:30 in the morning. Creeping in the back door before bed is one thing but I wasn’t going to wake you at that time and disturb you.”

Cheryl nodded, watching as Toni snuggled into the corner again, her lids closing as she let a small sigh out of her perfect little nose. She wanted to bundle her up. She wanted to grab her and _bundle her up._ Just fucking grab her and hold her and wrap her up safe and warm and kiss her head and murmur softly and never let her feel ‘locked out’ again. Security. Warmth. Stability.

No one had ever considered Cheryl Blossom to be _stable_ by any definition but she looked at that little tan face with the light freckles and the dark lashes and felt the tingle of the sensation of those cheeks on her lips and those _lips_ on her lips and those arms wrapped around her so naturally, so willingly and she _wanted_ it. She wanted to be stable, get a hold of herself, for Toni.

**_Take control._ **

She licked her lips, wrapping them around her straw to take a drink and swallowed slowly, letting the sweetness soothe her tongue as a rumble of thunder broke through the humid air outside, the sudden patter of a summer shower spattering lightly onto the asphalt.

“Am I doing this correctly?” She said quietly, pressing the pad of her finger onto a sesame seed that had long since strayed from its bun, picking it up and brushing it onto the plate in front of her.

“Doing what, Cheryl?” Came a sleepy murmur from the corner.

Cheryl shifted, the imitation leather of her seat squeaking as she rubbed her back into it and caught a droplet of water that ran down her glass with her knuckle.

“A relationship.”

Toni’s tired eyes opened, squinting in confusion.

“Huh?”

“Being your girlfriend. Being _a_ girlfriend. Am I doing it correctly? I’ve never been someone’s girlfriend before. You’ve had relationships so I figured that you could tell me if I was doing it wrong. I like to do things properly.”

Toni’s brow softened immediately, one of her small hands reaching over to take one of Cheryl’s and bringing the back of it to her lips.

She opened her mouth slightly, just about to speak before she changed her mind, closing it again. Her brow creased upwards, eyes flicking over Cheryl’s face. She almost looked pained.

“Cheryl,” She rasped softly, the sound relaxing Cheryl impossibly further, rubbing her thumbs over the back of a pale hand and pressing her lips to it tenderly again, “It hurts my heart to think you’ve got these questions in your head.”

Her _heart_.

Cheryl swallowed, watching her closely.

“ _Yes,_ Cheryl. You’re doing everything just fine, ok? You…” she let out a sigh, kissing Cheryl’s knuckles one, two, three, four times insistently, “…you don’t need to worry about these things. I’m glad you decided to talk to me about it instead of letting it boil up inside your head. But yes, _God yes_ , Cher. You’re perfect.” She dropped her voice to a whisper, her eyes adamantly trying to convey the weight of how she felt, “You’re a Blossom, remember? You’re perfect.”

Cheryl nodded, pushing a slow breath out of her nose and gripped her free hand into Toni’s thigh a little tighter.

Toni didn’t drop her gaze.

“You believe me, Cheryl?”

Cheryl nodded again.

“You’re _perfect_.”

They stared for a few seconds longer, Cheryl’s heart beating rapidly out of her chest before Toni seemed to snap her eyes away again quickly, clearing her throat as she sipped at her melted milkshake.

“This wouldn’t have anything to do with something your mother has said would it, Cheryl?” She asked softly, hand still tightly clinging to Cheryl’s.

“Well. Not directly I suppose. But then again, it is the polar frost of emotionally vacant parenting that she and daddy bestowed upon me that’s responsible for my reluctance to show vulnerability and endear myself to people so, yes I suppose in a way it is. She can impact my life, she always has done, but I couldn’t stand to think that, in turn, she was affecting yours, TT.”

Cheryl laid her head back against the seat, eyes drifting aimlessly over the stained ceiling tiles.

“I goddamn hate what she does to you, Cheryl.” Toni said tightly. Cheryl could hear the herculean effort she was making to keep her tone calm, “If I had anywhere steady to go myself I’d have you out of that house. I know it’s your birth right and you deserve to live there but fucking _dammit_ , Cher I just _wish_ I could get you out.”

Cheryl’s lips stretched across her face, rolling her head to glance at Toni with a sad smile.

“A valiant notion in theory, Toni. But I couldn’t just leave. There’s my Nana Rose to think about too.”

Toni swallowed her mouthful thickly, thinking

“You need to take what’s yours, Cheryl. Realistically, the only hold your mom has over any of that estate is the hold she’s got over _you._ Legally, she’s a fucking squatter. You need to let her know that. Show her who’s in charge.”

Cheryl stiffened, her eyes opening fully as Toni’s murmured insights flooded her brain with clarity.

She was right.

That beautiful, tiny, wonderful little work of art was right.

_Show her who’s in charge._

“You’re right. You always are, Toni. You’re right and I’ll get there.” She said quietly, lifting her head to nod and turned her body to Toni’s, “I will get there, TT. When I’m ready and I’ll do it. I promise.”

Toni smiled, her hand leaving Cheryl’s finally to join the other and cup her face. Cheryl revelled in the warmth of her palms on her cheeks, leaning down as Toni tugged her closer, watching as Toni’s eyes stared down at her lips before it all went black behind her lids, closing them slowly. She felt Toni press their mouths together firmly, her contented hum passing through their lips to vibrate against Cheryl’s teeth. Cheryl gripped at Toni’s shirt, trying to pull her closer as their mouths began to move, eagerly, comfortably, catching at each other softly in a way that made Cheryl sigh as hands found their way into her red hair. A soft tongue teased past her lips and she whimpered, opening her mouth and reciprocating with fervour. She pressed Toni further into the back of the seat and felt her smiling against her face.

_‘You’re a Blossom remember?’_

**_You’re perfect._ **


	22. Pretty Little 'V.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some nice times with Veronica and some pretty major realisations.

“Why didn’t you tell me about her?”

Cheryl was dragging her eyes over Toni’s French assignment, her lids narrowed in concentration and an effort to protect her vision from the harsh glare of the summer sun as it bounced off the white page before her. She slanted a missing accent line over the top of an ‘e’ – silly mistake, TT – and looked up at Veronica as she spoke.

“What are you talking about, Veronica?”

Cheryl watched as her dark hair bristled in the balmy, warm breeze that blew past them, shades of silver and blue reflecting in it as it trickled into her face. She was looking away, across the field from the lunch bench, at which they sat opposite each other, her mind in deep thought. Heat lines radiated across the ground to mix with pollen in the air and diffused a hazy glow around them, drifting out the smell of warm, toasted grass.

Peaceful.

She followed her gaze, noting that it was directed at the serpents, spread jauntily around their own bench, and at Toni in particular who appeared to be frowning, playing mediator to a heated discussion between Jughead and Sweetpea, and rolling her eyes. The toned arms on which she was resting were bare in the dry heat, so too were her little legs which lay splayed out in front of her as she lay on the grass, face tilted to the sky.

Cheryl smiled. The skin of her cheeks and shoulders would likely be touched by the sun and tanned to a darker hue by tomorrow. She couldn’t wait to welcome every inch of it with a kiss.

“Toni. Why didn’t you tell me about her?” Veronica finally confirmed, turning back to look at Cheryl.

“I did, Veronica. We both did, do you not remember? It was hardly a long time ago, we announced our relationship publicly. You were there.” Cheryl dead-panned disinterestedly, turning back to the page in front of her.

“No, Cheryl. I mean before. Before you were dating. I didn’t even know you had a crush on her. I didn’t even know you liked her that much.”

Cheryl’s head shot up, fingers winding tightly to the plastic of her pen.

“How dare you, of course I liked Toni. Everyone likes Toni. I might not have prostituted myself to the welcome committee like you did, and I admit that I was initially hostile, but I soon gave up on that crusade and agreed to accept the Southsiders, Veronica. I let her join the River Vixens for heaven’s sake.” Cheryl lectured defensively, the frown on her brow no longer just to shield her eyes from the sun as she shot a glare at her.

“Cheryl, calm down.” Veronica sighed, rolling her eyes, “I’m not accusing you of anything, I’m just saying that I was a little shocked when the two of you announced your relationship because, although I appreciate that you don’t _have_ to tell me anything, I thought you might have mentioned it.” She shrugged, looking down at what was left of her salad, “As friends.”

Cheryl’s eyes softened slightly, flicking over Veronica’s face as she looked up to meet her gaze.

“I, well.” She pressed her lips closed again, placing down her pen and leaning closer over the bench. “It wasn’t any reflection upon you or the value I hold in our friendship.” She noted Veronica’s eyebrow rising in surprise at such an admission of emotion from Cheryl Blossom.

_Just tell her how you feel._

_Communication is key._

_You’re a natural, Cheryl._

“Veronica, I know I don’t vocalise many things aside from brilliantly constructed and delivered insults,” Cheryl watched her crack a smile, “But you are a friend. A good friend. Very good friend.” She said quietly, her body stiff with the unfamiliarity of talking to Veronica in such an open way and reaching out a pale hand to touch her arm. “I was just dealing with a lot. In my own mind. And I wanted to keep it there.”

Veronica’s eyes remained squinted, the sun beating down on her face as she seemed to process the words for a moment.

She placed a hand on top of Cheryl’s.

“I’m proud of you, Cheryl. And I’m happy for you. And, I consider you a very good friend too.”

Cheryl’s lips bowed upwards gently at the reply, simple and succinct, looking to Veronica in much the same way that she had to Betty at Vixen’s practice a fortnight ago.

_Friends._

They pulled back from each other.

“So you were surprised about my relationship coming to fruition before I had notified you, rather than being surprised that it was with a woman?” Cheryl smirked, crossing one leg over the other under the table and knitting her hands, her back primly straight against the beating heat of the sun.

“Cheryl,” Veronica laughed, her chest bouncing with the effort, “You spend literally all of Vixen’s practice _staring_ at the girls. And in the locker room. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you checking me out either, I don’t even think you’re physically capable of conceptualising _subtlety._ ”

Cheryl blinked, inhaling sweet, humid air deeply in through her nose.

Caught _again_ , Cheryl.

You really _didn’t_ control yourself, did you?

“I’m sorry, Veronica. I didn’t mean to make you feel objectified-“

“Oh my _god_ , Cheryl. Shut _up_. I loved it.”

Veronica was looking over the field at the serpents again, raven-black eyebrows narrowed in concentration.

“Have you guys done it yet?”

Cheryl’s head straightened.

“Done what, Ver-“

“Oh for God’s sake, Cheryl, we’re both smarter than that, you know what I fucking mean.” She turned her rolling eyes back to Cheryl, fencing her in across the table with her stare. “Have you and Toni had sex?”

Cheryl’s bitten lip rolled out of her teeth like fondant.

“Yes. We have. In fact, I thought you would have deciphered it by now, Veronica, but, it was her.” Cheryl’s face fought a smile at the memory, “Archie’s party. It was Toni.”

Realisation blistered across Veronica’s face, her pretty mouth opening slowly.

“ _How have I been so **blind**?_ ” She whispered, fist thumping into the table in frustration and bouncing Cheryl’s pen across Toni’s book. “You lost your virginity to, _Toni._ Oh my god _of course_ you did, I barely saw you at all that evening and Jughead said you were with Toni the whole time as far as he could see and you-” She stopped, breathing in deeply, a shrewd grin worming onto her face, her eyes teasing. “And you lost your virginity to, Toni.” She concluded slowly, more to herself than to Cheryl, the cogs clicking into place in her head.

Cheryl let out a breathy chuckle.

“Well, Veronica, ‘ _lost my virginity’_ is a little louche, I personally like to interpret it as having _emancipated_ myself from the concept of it what with all-“

“What’s it like then? Huh?” Veronica cut her off, moving herself closer over the table, her eyes searching Cheryl’s face eagerly, “ _sex with a woman?”_

Cheryl’s eyebrows rose slowly on her face, a laugh curling at her lips.

“Well, well, well. Pretty little ‘V’ wants the _pretty little V_.” She teased slyly, biting her lip.

“Oh can I only show interest in my best friends’ sex lives if they’re straight now?”

Cheryl smiled.

‘ _Best friend’_

“Well,” Cheryl started, spying a look across the field at pink hair being faded by the sunshine, “of course the obvious caveat being that I don’t have anything with which to compare it…”

She thought of soft hands and softer lips. The bend of a slender waist. The distinctly female feel of dark thighs wrapped around her waist. Murmurs and moans and whimpers and pants, praising and laughing and encouraging over and over. The blissful slow begin, the gentle touch _here_ or _there_. The transition into pleasure, with worshipping hands and joined mouths and sweet, sweaty, velvety skin pressed so tightly together. The roundness of breasts compressed deliciously against breasts. _Warmth_ and _pressure_.  Wet streaks licked languidly over necks, her hips gripped firmly by small hands. Tongues and fingers and kisses and caresses, cycling round and round again to no definitive end with foreheads pushed together and lips abounding plumply from between wet mouths. Brushing long hair from each other’s faces, clutching on tightly to the contours of shoulders and watching as the other came undone; addictive and soft and eager and lovely and pretty and wonderful and _perfect._

She shivered.

“It’s... delightful. It feels right.”

Veronica nodded, sitting back in her seat.

Silence reigned between them for a moment, comfortable to bask in the lilting tweet of birds and the dry rustle of leaves against the warm wind.

“You’ve got her in deep, you know.” Veronica murmured, watching Cheryl carefully. “I see her looking at you all the time. She’s careful though. When you don’t know it. She looks away if you see her. But, she’s looking at you and it’s a look that I’m not used to seeing on her face. I’m not used to seeing it many places, actually. It reminds me of something from my old church back in the City. Cathedral level architecture, stone pillars and flowers and paintings and gold and all the Catholic accoutrements you expect. And over in the North West corner there’s a sculpture. A shrine to Mary. And god it’s _beautiful_ , Cheryl. The eyes and the face and the detail. It used to make my skin prickle as a child; I couldn’t look at it for too long, it was just too real. And she’s holding Jesus’ body, and she’s looking down at her son with such human _emotion, Cheryl._ Such devotion. I’ve found a love of my own and it’s perfect for me but this, this is just the purest definition of adoration and genuine human connection I’ve ever seen.” She paused, glancing at Toni. “And that’s what I see. That’s what sparks in my head when I see Toni looking at you. To be honest with you, Cheryl, if it wasn’t so fascinating to witness I’d have to look away because it’s just so, I don’t know, _potent_ the way she looks. I feel like I’m intruding on something spiritual. Like I’m eavesdropping on a prayer. Her eyes are just so _open_ and it just looks like…”

She wanted to finish but she knew the final word was not her place to utter first.

Cheryl could hardly breathe.

“I’m just saying, Cheryl. If you catch her, you’ll see it in her eyes. You might not be able to define it, but you’ll see it.” Veronica reached a hand over the table, “You’ve got her, Cheryl. Right _there._ ” She pressed her finger lightly into the top of Cheryl’s breast, right above her heart. “Bullseye.”

Cheryl watched, turning her head down slowly to look at the hand pressed to her chest, noting the scuff in the nail polish that pointed to her heart, before gliding her eyes across the field to dark, freckling cheeks that were smiling gleefully, her own voice hushed with realisation.

_The arrow always leaves from the heart._

She nodded.

“ **Bullseye.** ”


	23. King Louis XV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, people. Loving that you're enjoying it so much, I'm having a great time writing it. I'll try to update this week, but I have major exams this week and next, so I'm not sure of the frequency. However, this is only a week old and we're already on Chapter 23 so I don't think I've done too badly. Read, re-read, comment, review, keep it fresh, keep it coming and I'll try to update when i can. BUT, I'll be back for DEFINITE some time next week, so hop back in and stay tuned. This is a major, major chapter for Cheryl and I really think you're going to like it. Also, I'm not making any promises because I have a busy life outside of this so i literally can't, BUT, would anyone want to read a Scuff sequel? 10-ish years later something like that? I don't even know where i'd take it yet, might be fucking boring. But, Yes and No answers are absolutely welcome. Like I say, I'm not saying it will happen, but if possible, would anyone like that? In conclusion, keep your feedback coming if you wish, love reading what people are enjoying about it and if I don't see you sooner, you'll hear from me next week. Peace!

“Would you ever consent to me drawing you?”

The question had floated randomly out of her mouth as Cheryl sat lounging contently on an aged couch in Thistlehouse drawing room in the late afternoon sunshine its stiff upholstery holding the shape of her spine gracefully. The piece was apparently 18th Century French, or so her father had once told her, stolen by a distant Blossom descendant during the Revolution of 1789 and safeguarded all over Europe for centuries until Cochrane Blossom, her great-grandfather, had shipped it to America, in 1931, securing its place in Thistlehouse, and history, until this very day. Cheryl had always loved it, as a child it had always been _her_ choice of seat on visits to Thistlehouse, fit for the queen that she saw herself to be. She felt attached to it, a fateful connection, and planned to keep it for herself, a little morsel of the past for _her own_ future. According to Nana Rose, King Louis XV would entertain his lovers on it, and thus Cheryl found it royally fitting that she was lazing upon it with Toni sat between her legs, the serpent emblem of her jacket pressed gently against Cheryl’s chest as she played idly with pink hair.

“What? _Like one of your French girls,_ Cheryl?”

Toni scoffed a laugh to herself, looking up from her homework, an amused eyebrow quirked upwards as she turned her head to gaze up at the underside of Cheryl’s chin.

Cheryl turned her face downwards to look at her with a playful smirk.

“Tres drole, TT. But, yes, in essence. Would you allow it?”

Toni rolled her eyes, turning back to her book. “I figure if you want to draw me you could do it without permission. Like literally just pick up the pen and do it, right?”

Cheryl reached out a hand to grab her chin and lifted her face back up again.

“ _This_ face needs permission. You simply cannot plagiarise that amount of beauty, it just would not be right. One doesn’t replicate a magnificent landscape like that to merely pass it off as their own creation. It would be an homage, and an _honour_ to be trusted with such an undertaking, Toni. I’m purely a servant to the exquisite vista, all true credit to the _source_.”

She frowned in concentration as she spoke, tracing a finger down Toni’s forehead, over the smooth curve of her nose, down past the soft skin of her philtrum to circle over her lips, eyes mesmerised by their shape and texture.

Oh the _suppleness_ she could capture in charcoal would be just _divine_ and the texture of the lower would just leap from the page utterly _hypnotising_ the spectator with its undulating ridges and beckoning like a siren from the rocks just demanding to be kissed and- good **_God_** it really was just the _prettiest_ mouth she had ever _seen_.

She moved her fingers away, leaning down to replace them with her lips, sighing blithely into a tender, tugging kiss that was reciprocated easily. She pulled back just an inch.

“Shit, I could listen to you talk all day, Cheryl.” Toni chuckled, reaching up to push red hair behind Cheryl’s ear and stroke an affectionate finger over her jaw. Her eyes softened earnestly as a crooked smile bent her lips, “but since you asked so nicely, yeah sure. You can draw me if you want.”

Cheryl beamed, pulling away to crane her neck downwards and press kisses along Toni’s collarbone, rubbing her hands lazily over the ripped jeans on toned, dark thighs as Toni resumed her studying.

“I can’t understand why you’d want to though, you have like a million damn photos of me on your phone that-“

“Because you’re art.”

One day, Cheryl swore, she’d let Toni finish a sentence.

“I’m what, Bombshell?” The words had barely left Toni’s lips before a loud cackle had followed swiftly, echoing around the expanse of the parlour.

“Don’t _laugh_ , Toni. You’re art. Look at your face, the _lips_. Your beautiful eyes… soft cheeks.” She drifted off distractedly, murmuring against the skin of Toni’s neck as her lips climbed higher. “…Your soul, TT. Your essence, you’re art. A masterpiece.” She pressed a slow, pillowy peck to her cheek, “To me, you’re art.”

Were it not for the fact that she was a mere hairsbreadth from Toni’s skin, Cheryl would not have believed her eyes.

Toni Topaz was blushing.

She bristled in Cheryl’s lap and Cheryl took note of the hitch in her breath, the flaring of her nostrils and the bobbing of her throat as she swallowed hard. She glanced a look behind her, catching Cheryl’s gaze and Cheryl swore, for just a _second_ that she saw a flash of something there. Something that she hadn’t seen in years. The thing Veronica had told her about. Something she’d only ever seen once before, in the eyes of another girl in adolescence, sat beneath an oak tree or huddled beneath her sheets…

Toni looked away, her book interesting once more.

She swallowed again, fidgeting her shoulder and taking a deep breath, “well, shit. Thanks.”

Cheryl noted the strangeness of her behaviour, moving her hands up to stroke Toni’s arms soothingly.

A few beats of silence ticked by before she cleared her throat to talk again.

“I mean, the closest thing I’ve ever had to art, obviously apart from my photographs …” Toni seemed to be in a hurry to change the course of the conversation, “…is a picture that Sweetpea drew when he was 12 of a woman, getting fucked doggy-style, on the outside of my uncle’s trailer. Well, he didn’t draw it; he fucking scratched it in with a key.” She chuckled, eyes still not daring to look at Cheryl.

“Well, art is a subjective medium I suppose,” Cheryl said softly, combing her fingers through Toni’s hair, “I would say it speaks of the sexual rage and disillusioned frustrations of the disenfranchised male youth of working class Americ-”

“No, it was fucking gross, Cheryl and it fucked up our security deposit.”

“Oh.”

Toni’s phone flashed with an incoming message.

“Shit, its Jug, there’s a serpents meeting,” she closed her book, sitting up from Cheryl’s lap, “probably for the best, I was getting a headache anyway.”

Cheryl rubbed her hand over her back, comfortingly, up and down her spine. She felt a niggle of concern rummaging around in the back of her brain as she watched Toni bend down to pack away her things, knowing that _serpents meeting_ could entail a whole _manner_ of things; but, surprisingly, she found she was more envious than worried. Toni could handle herself; she just wanted to be with her when she did it. 

“Well you should wear your reading glasses, TT.”

She was so desperate to see them on her.

“Yeah _thank you_ , Dr Blossom, I’m aware of that.”

Toni turned then, finally, placing a hand on Cheryl’s thigh and flicked her eyes back and forth between hers, her lips tipping into a smile that Cheryl couldn’t quite read.

_‘You’ve got her, Cheryl. Right **there**.’_

**_Bullseye_ **

Pretty, though.

“I gotta go,” She whispered, “I’ll message you later and see you at school tomorrow.” She sounded almost like she was placating Cheryl, assuring her kindly like she would a home-sick child, her desperate longing to be in Toni’s company obviously pleading through her eyes.

“Ok, Cher?”

“Ok.”

They leaned in slowly, eyes open and locked until the _very last_ moment as their lips slotted together. They remained still for a moment, the power of that feeling of _connection_ still fresh to them, basking in it keenly before Cheryl’s hands came to rest on Toni’s cheeks and she angled her head, two pairs of lips tugging ardently, but oh so slowly, brushing and sticking and pressing together so-

“What’s going on in here?”

They broke apart, flinching at the intrusion, Toni standing up off the couch and the sole of her boot scuffing the priceless heirloom in her haste.

Her mother was home.

She stood forebodingly in the doorway, her sinewy arms posed stiffly at her sides.

Cheryl stole a look out of the bay window to see Penelope’s convertible parked in place on the drive where minutes ago it had been vacant.

What the fuck? They hadn’t even heard the door.

“Mrs Blossom, hi,” Toni started, wiping red from her mouth, “I’m Toni Topaz I’m-“

“Why is she here, Cheryl?”

The words were heavy and precise from her mother’s lips, as she ignored Toni’s welcome, thudding out densely like a decapitated head, bouncing down off the block to roll across the floor and land at Cheryl’s feet.

“I invited her. But she was just leaving.”

“No, I can stay now if you need-.”

“No, TT. I wouldn’t dream of making you late. Please. _Go._ ”

“Cheryl, I don’t want to lea-”

Cheryl glanced at Toni who appeared to be stalling her exit, fixing a clear look to her eyes.

Toni seemed to understand, reluctantly nodding her head.

“Message me.”

An offer of back-up.

Cheryl nodded in return, wishing she could walk Toni to the door and take one last look at her face and squeeze her hand and pull her back in for a final parting kiss from _those damn lips_ , but, instead, she watched her go, passing her mother with a hesitant,

“Goodbye, Mrs Blossom.”

through clenched teeth and striding into the foyer. She heard the door clunk shut.

All she needed was the sound of rattling keys and a call of,

‘Lights out!’

And she’d truly feel at home.

Perfect little feet trudged away into the distance.

“On King Louis’ chaise, _Cheryl_?” Her mother spat, distain dripping from her tightened mouth.

“Oh _please_ , mommy. You’re mad if you think that’s the first time two women have kissed on top of that, it was in _Paris_ for heaven’s sake.”

“Cheryl, ENOUGH.” The crisp bellow reverberated around the room, bouncing off exquisite wood furnishings and invaluable ancient ornaments before colliding straight into Cheryl’s face. “I _thought_ this… _deviant_ behaviour was over, Cheryl. This insolent rebellion of your youth. How **dare** you carry it on still, with a Southside _serpent_ and in _my_ house-”

“But it’s not your house, mommy.” Cheryl interrupted, not caring that she had. “Is it?” Her voice was calculated, smug, a malicious smirk curling at her lips as she took a step forward, tilting her head patronisingly and staring wide eyed at her mother as she floated menacingly towards her. She was sick of this, sick of the oppression. The expectation. The _obligation_. Enough was enough. She was taking back control.

_‘Show her who’s in charge.’_

“ _Is it_ , mother? No, it’s Nana Rose’s. And the rest? Is _mine. Your_ house lays in ash, mommy. Your _life_ , your **_legacy_** and any power you once held over me and the Blossom name lays in _ash,_ buried in the ruins of Thornhill _._ ”

She was close now, her face inches from her mother’s as she bored her gaze deeply into her eyes.

Penelope winced, her chest rising and falling quicker with each passing second.

That’s right you hateful _bitch._

**_I’m in control, now._ **

“So I think I should be shown a little more _respect,_ mother. Your place here, at Thistlehouse, in my life, in the _family_ , hangs solely from _my_ fingers.” She dropped her voice to a whisper, pushing her face closer, “And should I want to take those fingers, and wrap them around your… acerbic… reactionary… archaic _throat_ , mommy, and squeeze and _squeeze_ with all the anger and pain and resentment you have instilled within me, from your _firehose_ of abuse, then I _shall_ do it, mother. **_Without hesitation.”_**

She watched with a potent satisfaction she had never quite experienced before as her mother’s eye twitched, her face faltering in stranded panic.

**_I’m in control._ **

“Should I wish to be emancipated, mommy and tear the priceless Asian rug from beneath your pampered, courtesan feet, don’t think I won’t do it. And then what would you do? You would have to go and live with amongst the _pigs._ ”

Penelope swallowed the warning harshly.

“So you had better start doing as I say. Acquiring my permission for every… little… thing, mommy.” She grinned, flicking her eyes to her mother’s quivering lip before meeting her gaze once more. “And relinquish your totalitarian grip on my life.”

She pulled back suddenly, Penelope flinching with a ragged expulsion of breath.

_Show her who’s **in charge**._

“And Toni, mommy? She’s my girlfriend,” Cheryl beamed with satisfaction, “My _Cherie_. We’re together, her and I, and _unfathomably_ happy. She gives me a peace that I’d thought us Blossoms were cursed never to know. A peace that _you’ll_ never know, mother. She is here to stay and you will _respect_ that.”

Penelope scoffed, her last attempt to seize back control, “Together? You’re an emotional _anorexic_ Cheryl, you’ve never known love except to rip it apa-“

“-oh, Mumsie. Enough.” Cheryl rolled her eyes, snatching back the last jagged shred of Penelope’s authority from her. “I burned one house down, I’ll _happily_ burn another. Don’t test me, mommy. You will submit and you will accept Toni. Or I will leave you to the mercy of your empire of _dust_.”

Penelope was silent, gulping down the bile in her throat. She knew Cheryl would do it.

To be torn from all this, all she’d ever known, born into riches and high-society, the idea of fending for herself and being cast-out from her nobility, her title, her position and influence and livelihood, lost to the cruel world as just another tortured face on a painting, paying for her sins as she burned in the Baroque hell that was the powerless, pestilent rabble of the _normal_ people. A fate worse than death. A true living Hell.

Cheryl knew that feeling.

She was glad her mother did too now.

Penelope nodded, acquiescing.

“As you wish, child.”

**_I’m in control._ **

Cheryl grinned, teeth bared as she pushed past her mother to sweep out of the door.

“She’s… she’s pretty… Cheryl.” Came a croaky bleating from behind her.

Cheryl raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, mother. You never were one for gushing words of praise were you?”  She turned back around to smirk wickedly.

“She’s a _masterpiece_.”


	24. Loveless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK I'M NOT BACK FOR GOOD OK BUT I'M RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF MY EXAMS AND ITS INTENSE AND I JUST NEEDED TO UPLOAD THIS. This is fluffy as fuck. I love that Jason Blossom never speaks because it means i can be lazy with characterization. Jokes, jokes, I personally think it gives him a gentleness and a wisdom so I wanted to keep that. Also holy shit you guys I hadn't been checking but thank you so much for all the kudos and shit, so cool. SO ENJOY COMMENT WHATEVER I'LL BE DONE BY WEDNESDAY NEXT WEEK AND I'LL BE BACK FOR GOOD.

Cheryl had reached her hand over the side of the rowboat to drift her fingers leisurely through the cool waters of Sweetwater River, marvelling at the ripples cascading away from her as she’d pierced the sun-warmed surface and paddled her fingers in the cool depths. The smell of wet maple leaves and rich soil drifted through the air like the gentle tides beneath them, their cradle of a boat swaying soothingly to the accompanying lullaby of trickling water and light birdsong.

She had felt at peace here. At one time in her life, in that moment, it had been her favourite place in the world.

She and Jason had decided to take a visit one afternoon in the late summer before their 16th birthday to escape Thornhill and their parents and the _perfect obligation_ of their lives for a few small hours. He had dutifully rowed them out to the middle, mooring them against a jutting boulder to where they had laid, side by side, to lift the Blossom crown, and all its weighted expectations, from their heads for just a while. To have the same red hair, and the same perfect posture, and the same privileged outlook on the cruel world in which they’d grown up but not to be ‘The Blossom Twins’ for now, to exist for a brief pocket in time together as simply _Cheryl_ and _Jason._

She had pulled her hand from the water, flicking light droplets onto the wood of the boat and watching them soak into it keenly as the sun had dried her hand.

“Have you told Polly that you love her yet, JJ?”

Her voice had been quiet, small in the vast expanse of nature in which they lazed but its presence still startled Jason as he opened his eyes to look at her. He sat up on his elbow, watching her face before breaking into a small smile and nodding his head.

Cheryl had smiled back, drifting her eyes over the handsome contours of his cheeks.

She had been jealous when she had first found out about Polly. Hideously so. Grotesquely, viciously, _disturbingly_ jealous, flying into a resentful rage. Frighteningly _Blossom_ in her reaction. How **dare** they? How **_dare_ ** some unworthy _slut_ take her precious brother’s attention from her? How dare she usurp Cheryl’s position of affection in his eyes, the only accolade she’d ever truly wanted? How dare some _Cooper_ find love, happy, contented, true love and yet Cheryl was left by the wayside, longing to love someone, man or woman - **anyone** – and, now, without the devotion of her beloved JJ either.

It had eaten at her.

 _Seared_ within her.

She’d never felt jealousy like it.

But then, one day, she had caught them at school together, murmuring sweetly to each other beside Jason’s car in the parking lot. And the look of sheer happiness, freedom, _peace_ on Jason’s face had left her breathless.

He’d deserved this.

He’d deserved better than he’d been given in life.

He deserved to _escape_.

And if Polly Cooper was that escape, then so be it.

“How wonderful for you, Jason. And did she reciprocate?”

Jason had nodded again, his smile turning shy as he’d looked away from her to gaze at the trees opposite them on the shore.

“I’m so pleased for you, JJ. To find love in our most troubled lives is truly a blessing.” She’d mused quietly, watching a stray droplet running down her wrist.

“Was it hard to say it to her? To actually say the words ‘I love you’ without knowing if they’d be said back?”

There had been silence for a moment.

Cheryl had turned to watch Jason as he thought, picking the remnants of some bark from the leg of his pressed white pants. He’d swallowed, looking at her with soft eyes, one crooked and blinking as her faced the glare of the sun.

He had nodded again, earnestly.

Cheryl turned away, looking up at the sky.

“I thought you would say that. I can’t imagine what that must be like.”

She’d paused for a moment, listening to the river.

“I’ve never said those words to anyone, JJ. Apart from you of course, and mommy and daddy, although heaven knows sometimes I don’t _mean_ it towards them.” She’d muttered bitterly. “But when I say it to you, Jason, I know that you feel it in return. It’s a promise with you. But with anyone else, with that _different_ kind of love, not our sibling love, JJ, I mean the _romantic_ love, like you have with Polly. That… is not promised.”

She’d pressed her lips together, glancing at Jason to gauge his reaction and noting the look of understanding on his face, encouraging her to continue.

“It’s not a promise, JJ. You just have to _trust_ that they feel the same way. And, of course, what happens if they say it first? Is that perhaps somehow worse? That they now have the upper hand and you’re left struggling to catch up to them, forcing yourself to love them just to be able to say it back?”

She had closed her eyes, a sigh leaving her nose steadily. She’d felt Jason’s hand on her shoulder, comforting warmth seeping through her blouse.

“I couldn’t imagine saying it, JJ.” She’d whispered. “I simply couldn’t imagine entrusting someone so deeply. Such a precipice to walk, and so blindly too. I couldn’t even say it to Heath-“She’d faltered in her words, something she had only ever been comfortable enough in its imperfection to do around her beloved brother “-to… when I… when she’d said...”

She had stopped then, her eyes stinging harshly from behind her lids and a heavy weight pressing her into the boat as she’d fought the tears that had gripped at her throat.

_Not oak trees, Cheryl. Don’t think of oak trees, or whispered words under bedsheets. Think of **maple trees** and river water and **anything else.**_

**_Don’t think about her._ **

**_Don’t do it._ **

**_Control yourself, Cheryl._ **

“I hadn’t even said it then, JJ. I’m not sure I could have. It’s all too much.”

She’d opened her eyes, turning to her brother.

“Do you think I’m capable of it, Jason? Of saying those words? Of _meaning_ them, JJ?” She’d whispered, her eyes imploring his honesty but hoping, secretly, should his answer be too painful for her that he would mercifully lie. “Is what I felt true, Jason? Will I ever be able to utter those words truthfully to someone or will they just be a pantomime like I said, just repeating what’s said to me so that I can ‘catch up’ and force myself to lie so as not be left behind and discarded? To completely lack control?” She’d dropped her voice to a whisper, watching with pained eyes as Jason looked at her with a similar expression of hurt. “Am I loveless like mommy says, JJ?”

He had frowned, deeply, a scornful, wounded frown born of years of being the ‘favourite,’ years of being praised and cherished more than his sister, whom he loved so dearly, years of witnessing the brutality of words at which she had suffered. A frown of protest, of anger, at the injustice of it all.

His lips had pressed together tightly, his head shaking firmly, the certainty of his response clear in his eyes.

“I’m not loveless, JJ?”

He shook his head again.

“You really think, maybe one day, I’ll find someone with whom I can share that _promise_?”

His frown washed away like the river water, the current bringing a gentle smile to lap at his face.

He’d nodded, his eyes bright and reassuring, and Cheryl had let out a deep breath, relaxing onto her back once more.

“On that day, when I say it, JJ. You’ll be the first person I tell. ” She vowed, “The very first person. I promise. I’ll find you and I’ll run to you and I’ll hold you and I’ll say…” She smiled, turning to meet his eyes.

“…I did it, JJ. I finally did it.”

 

 

 

 

 

Cheryl let out a contented sigh, a small smile etched to her face. She hadn’t been able to rid herself of it for more than a week now, still reeling from the heady experience that had been _showing her mother who’s in charge_.

And she’d taken it, dear old Penelope. She’d taken it and hadn’t gone back on her words or hatched some sordid scheme of revenge or placed a goose-down pillow over Cheryl’s face and smothered her in the night.

She’d done as she was told, living under the rules of someone else’s control for once.

_Cheryl’s control._

They had quite simply been the loveliest, most liberating, most _peaceful_ days of her entire 17 year old life.

And all thanks to the girl who had given her the push to do it.

The lovely, pretty, soft and compassionate girl with whom she was laying, on top of the silk sheets of her bed, wrapped around in a tight embrace.

After a wonderful lunch of charcuterie – to which Toni had oh so sweetly referred  as,

“What? Just a bunch of shit you’d put in a sandwich?”

the two had retired to Cheryl’s bedroom for a nap. Toni had climbed onto the bed to join her, wrapping her limber little limbs around Cheryl’s body, gripping her arms tightly to her back and anchoring her hands onto Cheryl’s shoulders. With a brief kiss to a pale cheek, Toni had pressed her face deeply into the crook of Cheryl’s neck and there it had remained, nose and mouth and forehead pressing eagerly, firmly into the white skin, ever since.

Cheryl felt the warm puffs of her breath wafting rhythmically against her neck, working in tandem with the rise and fall of her chest as they lay pressed completely together, slotting into one with ergonomic _perfection_. She was drifting her hands lazily over the bare skin of Toni’s back, having slipped them beneath her shirt almost immediately, and was staring off at the far wall dreamily.

**_Hold on to her, little bird. Just hold on to her and float._ **

She bent her head just so, pressing her smiling lips to Toni’s hairline, inhaling that wonderful, naturally earthen shampoo, her eyes fluttering.

Small hands gripped her shoulders tightly, the body attached to them wriggling contentedly and letting out a gruff hum of appreciation.

Cheryl smiled.

Was this the happiest she’d ever been?

Her smile widened as she pondered.

Had Sweetwater River, now tainted with despair and loss, been replaced by this bed, this moment, with _this girl_ _,_ as her favourite place in the world?

Yes, she thought.

_Bullseye._

She felt a slow kiss being pressed lazily to her neck, toned legs tangling tighter with hers.

_Absolute heaven._

_You’re a natural, Cheryl._

She slipped her fingers beneath the clasp of Toni’s bra, leaving her palm to press warmly against the bumps of her spine and fanned out her fingers.

Touch.

Control.

_Perfection._

“I’m not loveless, you know.” She whispered, lips brushing lightly against Toni’s hair.

The beats of breath against her skin stopped for a second, stalling before they resumed.

Another kiss was placed to her neck, firmer and slower this time, hands pulling Cheryl in tightly.

“I know.” Came a raspy reply, muffled quietly against Cheryl’s pulse. “Where’d that come from?”

**_‘It’s just so potent the way she looks at you, Cheryl.’_ **

**_‘Her eyes are just so open and it looks like…’_ **

“I just want you to know that.” Cheryl confirmed, her lips pressing to Toni’s forehead again. “I know how people see me, some soulless automaton. Sociopathic lack of empathy. A Penelope 2.0.”

Toni gripped her harder, nuzzling her nose into Cheryl’s neck.

“But I’m not. I’m not a monster. I’m not loveless. And I just want you to know that, TT.”

_The arrow always leaves from the heart._

There was silence for a while, two pairs of arms gripping exponentially tighter in their grasp with each ticking second of Cheryl’s clock.

Finally, soft lips moved against her neck in reply.

“All I’ve ever seen of you, Cher… is passion. Fire and life and passion. Even if it’s pain. Or sorrow. You _feel_. You feel so deeply, Cheryl. How can someone with so much passion and so much _feeling_ , be loveless?” Toni whispered, not moving her face from its cocoon, choosing her words carefully, “The way you talk about art. The way you talk about Jason. It’s pure love. How can _you_ be loveless? Anyone who can’t see that is _wilfully_ blind.”

For the second instance in their short time together, Cheryl was rendered speechless by the reverent beauty and thoughtfulness of Toni’s usually brazen words.

**_Bullseye._ **

“I think you’re capable of pretty great love, Cheryl.”

Cheryl willed her heart to slow down.

“You do?”

Toni’s head shifted against her jaw as she nodded in affirmation.

“In fact, I think it’s already inside you. Fucking shit-tons of _love_ just built up over the years, ready to come out.” Another kiss was pressed to her neck, Toni’s voice dropping to a distant whisper, “you just need someone to give it to.”

Cheryl wondered if she was even supposed to hear those words at all, uttered so much like one’s innermost thoughts confirming themselves out loud to the speaker for their ears and their ears alone. Like listening at a door, or prying on a secret.

_‘Like **eavesdropping on a prayer** ’_

“I think you might be right, TT.” She whispered, laying her head on top of Toni’s, her chin scuffing lightly against her forehead and that pesky smile growing brightly on her face. “I think you might be right.” 

 

 

 


	25. Leave It On.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, i have no excuses, I'm procrastinating pure and simple. I'm almost done with exams but I just wanted to fucking do this, OK? Ok. This is fluff and some smut. A lead up to something fucking major. Enjoy, let me know what you think.

 

Cheryl tugged at her skirt, shifting her weight on her heels as they clunked lightly against the cheap, hollow metal of the steps beneath her. She glanced around, the warm sun catching at her eyes as she squinted them and surveyed the little village of ruin that was Sunnyside Trailer Park.  The light bounced keenly off the red paintwork of her car, sticking out like a jewel in the sand, grateful to be touching its rays to something of value and newness in this municipal pocket of dereliction.

Even for the Southside this was underprivileged. 

Weeds stood crookedly through cracks in the graying crumbles of asphalt attempting their escape from their cruel environment and happy to die slowly in the heat rather than suffer to live another day here. Packed, dried mud flumed up dustily in the light breeze, holes and bumps and ridges and tyre marks marred harshly across it as it was slowly eroded into makeshift roads. The sharp, toxic smell of burning rubber floated noxiously in the air to the tune of the odd dog bark and smashed bottles. Sirens wailed faintly in the distance. Each trailer cabin lay untidily akimbo, as if they were toys placed down by a bored child and left there in the world’s backyard, forgotten about, to peel away slowly in the wind and dirt.

A true scuff on the map of _her_ Riverdale.

She felt out of place. But not unwelcome.

She was incognito, despite how much she seemed to stick out.

She liked it.

She raised her hand, curling the knuckle of her forefinger and raked her eyes over the lichen ridden door before her. If she knocked too hard she feared her hand would go straight through it. It seemed to sit at an angle on its hinges, slumping diagonally in its frame, and the handle looked newer than the rest of it. She surmised it had likely been kicked in more than once.

She knocked crisply, three times in quick succession.

Toni had informed her at school yesterday, whilst braiding a strand of her red hair, that her uncle had been given a job that weekend, driving _something_ to _somewhere_ for _someone_ as a _favour_. Cheryl’s curious mind had prompted her to dig deeper into the vagueness of Toni’s explanation but her desire to remain out of police custody had hushed it right away.

So, Toni had told her that, if she wished to do so, Cheryl was welcome to traverse the great divide of North to South and spend however many of those few days she wished with her in her trailer.

Together.

 _Alone_.

She crinkled her nose, wiping the specks of dirt on her finger against her leg and glanced at a small window to her left as she heard movement from behind it. The pane was broken, the evidence of it lying splintered in the unkempt grass beneath it and a black garbage bag had been taped into place to cover the hole, bristling softly in the breeze.

A clunk sounded from behind the door before it creaked open.

Cheryl watched as it shifted heavily out of place, straining on its hinges as a strip of faded rubber sealant peeled slowly down the frame, before turning her eyes to the girl in front of her.

She grinned, a contented sigh ready to leave her chest.

“Hi.”

“Hi yourself, Bombshell.”

Toni stepped back, leaning her body against the door to allow Cheryl to step inside.

“You brought groceries?”

Cheryl looked down at the basket in her hand, peeling back the red gingham fabric that lay strewn over the contents.

“Oh, no. This is just some muffins and a bottle of Cherry liqueur; I wouldn’t dream of visiting someone’s house for the first time and not bringing a gift.” She explained softly, the power and importance of her etiquette lessons lost to complete redundancy in this lawless wasteland.

She reached into the basket, her pale fingers wrapping around fresh stems held neatly together with string. “And these,” She smiled coyly, pulling the flowers from under the cloth and holding them out to Toni, “are for you.”

She watched as Toni closed the door slowly, the light eclipsing into dim shadow across her face as those lovely lips stretched into a smile and those brown eyes softened. She reached out to take them in her hands, inspecting the blue petals closely before pressing them to her freckled nose and inhaling.

“I remember you said you liked flowers,” Cheryl continued, captivated by the sheer gentleness and tranquil innocence of the girl in front of her. She was a _gang member_ for Christ’s sake, “And I also remember that you said that you liked the Himalayan Blue Poppies at the back of Thistlehouse. They’re notoriously difficult to grow in this part of the world. Mother puts a lot of effort into their cultivation.” She dropped her voice, catching Toni’s eye, “But you’re worth sneaking a few stems.”

Toni took the basket from her, a smirk crawling up her face. “Thank you, Cher.”

She swallowed, her eyes searching over Cheryl’s face as she seemed to get lost in her thoughts.

 _That_ look.

It was _that_ look again, that Veronica had mentioned, Cheryl noted.

But Veronica was wrong this time. This time, Toni didn’t look away.

**_Bullseye._ **

Cheryl stepped forward, her hands pressing to the side of Toni’s jaw and fingers winding into her soft, pink hair as she tilted her face upwards just enough to lean down and press a slow, hard kiss to her lips. She felt Toni hum, her little body relaxing against Cheryl’s. She held her there for a moment, rocking her head from side to side slowly, the pressed friction of her lips causing a sigh to leave her nose before she pulled back, Toni’s lower lip caught softly between hers.

She opened her eyes slowly to look deeply into Toni’s.

**_‘It’s just so potent the way she looks at you, Cheryl.’_ **

She stroked her thumbs across freckled cheeks, stepping back.

“Well, welcome to my humble shithole,” Toni rasped, caressing her freshly red-stained lip between her teeth, “Make yourself at home.”

 

 

 

Two hours later and Cheryl found herself staring at a crack in the cheap plasterboard of Toni’s bedroom ceiling. The sun was lower in the afternoon sky but the close heat still clung to the walls of the tiny room. A battered old fan ticked rhythmically on the desk opposite the rickety twin bed, on which they were laying together in their underwear, trying valiantly to blow cool air onto their skin as it oscillated back and forth.

She imagined this was how it felt to be kidnapped. Claustrophobically suffocating. Some half way house for trafficked women, lying on a bumpy mattress in a dark room no bigger than her dining table in square footage. The faint smell of cigarette smoke clinging to the upholstery in the living room a few feet away, thin carpets peeling from the floor in doorways and holes punched through walls and covered lazily with roughly nailed pieces of wood.

She turned her head, glancing at the girl dozing next to her, her pale arm draped gently over a toned, dark stomach, sweat collecting against the skin beneath it.

_Touch._

The sinister vibe of the trailer’s interior melted away.

Nothing could be suffocating with this warm body next to her.

_Control._

Toni’s dark eyes blinked open and she smiled.

“Hi.”

_Perfection._

Cheryl smiled lazily, pecking her cheek before reaching over her to grab the bottle of liqueur from the nightstand and sitting up to press it to her lips and take a drink.

“I like it when you taste like cherries.” Toni purred gravelly from beneath her, taking the bottle from her to indulge in a generous dram of her own. “It seems pretty fitting to me.”

Cheryl chuckled, leaning her head on her arm, the faint haziness of the half a bottle they’d already consumed leaving its foggy legacy on her brain. “It’s Portuguese; they drink it a lot in Lisbon. We bought this there on vacation two winters ago. Sometimes they drink it from edible chocolate shot cups.” She traced her fingertips lightly over the damp skin of Toni’s arm.

“Chocolate and Cherry huh?” Toni murmured, an eyebrow quirking on her brow as she took another deep sip, “I think I’ve seen that combination before, like our milkshake orders, works damn well as I recall.” She smirked at Cheryl, laughing against the lip of the bottle.

“Such a vulgar flirt, TT.” Cheryl rolled her eyes.

Toni replaced the bottle with a clunk and lay back down to close her eyes.

God she was beautiful.

God, she was _so_ beautiful.

Cheryl smiled lightly, taking the opportunity to drape her eyes over her.

She thought back to History class three months ago. How desperate and frenzied she’d felt watching Toni from afar. Wanting to know how it felt to kiss her lips or her cheek, to touch her skin, to bury her face in her hair. Gripping the desk and clamping her legs, grinding her teeth as she burned up from the inside. Wanting to just reach out and take her, _craving_ her, thinking of her alone in bed at night and longing to press herself against her and feel her warmth.

To feel _control_.

And now she could. She _was_.

She was at _peace_.

She smiled wider.

Faint music emanating from Toni’s phone lulled serenely around the tiny room and children’s voices playing outside filtered in through the open window. A curse word sounded out from a voice belonging to a child far too young to know it and Cheryl watched as Toni laughed at it lightly, shifting on her back.

**_‘Such human emotion, Cheryl.’_ **

**_‘_ ** **_just the purest definition of adoration and genuine human connection I’ve ever seen…’_ **

She leaned her head down, pressing a soft kiss to Toni’s shoulder, pecking a slow trail down over her collar bone, across her throat, pausing to nuzzling her nose to her neck, over the dip of her clavicle, softly down down down over her sternum and the roundness of the top of her breast, feeling a hand reaching out to curl into her hair.

The skin was hot and salty beneath her lips. She opened her mouth to lathe a wet line back up to Toni’s ear and it mixed with the sweetness of the liqueur on her tongue to blend _perfectly_ together and she moaned lightly in tandem with Toni as she attached her lips behind her ear and sucked gently.

“Fuck, Cher.”

Toni’s hands wound around her back, clawing vainly at the skin and moved her head back against the pillow to allow Cheryl more room to kiss.

“Watch your language, TT.” Cheryl warned, her breath hot and playful in Toni’s ear, feeling her shiver beneath her as she licked greedily at her neck, dragging her white fingers over her stomach.

Toni wriggled beneath her for a moment longer, enjoying the work of Cheryl’s tongue before pressing herself against her and flipping them over, coming to rest on top of her.

Cheryl wasted no time, plunging her hands into Toni’s hair, tugging lightly at the roots to get a moan from her as she opened her lips and brushed them against Toni’s, her tongue flicking out teasingly before turning Toni’s head with her hands and delving in deeply to lap at each other languidly. Cheryl whimpered, one hand relenting to trail down Toni’s back and palm at her backside, her eyes rolling back behind closed lids. She squeezed hard, earning a high pitched groan into her mouth from Toni.

She worked her mouth faster, feeling nimble fingers pushing past the waistline of her expensive lingerie.

“Wait-” She gasped, pulling back wetly from Toni’s face, breathing heavily as the hand stilled against her body and Toni looked down at her with worried eyes.

Cheryl kissed her lips.

“Where’s your serpent jacket?”

Toni frowned, nudging her nose to the tip of Cheryl’s as she stared down at her mess of red lips.

“Over there, why?” She motioned her head slightly to the compact pine dresser opposite, tucked snugly next to the desk. Cheryl followed her eyes to it, pressing herself up into Toni’s body.

“Put it on.”

Toni pulled back slightly, her face conflicted.

“Cher, it’s like 86 degrees in here-”

 “Put it on, TT.” She leaned up to catch her lip in her teeth and scraped it free with a groan. “Please?”

A few seconds passed by before she felt cool air touch her skin as Toni stood, sighing, and pulled her jacket from a drawer. She slid it over her shoulders easily, untucking her hair from the back and tugging the lapels into place around the front with habitual ease. She turned around, pushing the sleeve up her right forearm.

“Oh _God._ ”

Cheryl hadn’t even known the words had left her as they hit her ears, sounding breathy and eager, reaching out a hand to tug Toni back to her as she peered over the bra and panties that didn’t match and the hard leather that hung snugly around them.

“You like that?” Toni laughed, her pretty face already flushing pink from the heat of the extra layer as she climbed on top of Cheryl again.

Cheryl pulled her down firmly, eyes wide and breathing shallow as she nodded her head, gripping her hands into the stitched serpent emblem and catching their mouths together.

Her breath hitched as a finger teased at her clit, flicking back and forth teasingly and she pulled her mouth away, pressing her forehead against Toni’s.

“God you are so _perfect_.” Cheryl groaned, frowning as she sucked at Toni’s lips and moved a hand underneath her jacket to dig her fingers into her back. She felt two fingers pushing into her and closed her eyes, arching her back off the bed as they began to move swiftly in and out.

Toni pushed her face into the pillow and pressed feverish kisses to the bend of her jaw, murmuring soft praises against her cheek. Cheryl felt the sweat beading on dark skin and pressing against her own as she started to pant lightly, lifting her head to sink her teeth into the shoulder of Toni’s jacket. Toni curled her fingers rubbing them gently into the spot that made Cheryl’s breath leave her and her arms tighten.

“Oh my god, TT. _There_.” She whimpered, wrapping her legs around the back of Toni’s thighs.

She could feel the heat pouring off Toni, sweat dotting itself over both of them as she bucked up to rub against Toni’s thigh, her moans growing higher and breathier as she felt herself clawing closer and closer to releasing the heat between her legs.

Hot skin, hot breath, tough leather beneath her hand. Soft hair on her face and soft kisses on her cheek and that perfect, weighted, comforting pressure pushing down on top of her, loving hands working dutifully, expertly, pressing, pushing, stretching, _giving_ , pressure in just all the right places and _just a little more…_

She gripped tighter, beads pouring down her forehead as her neck retracted and bent her head back…

_Just a little more_

“There, TT. Don’t stop.”

She climbed the rock face slowly, hands gripping and pulling and clawing her way up, sweat dripping from her skin until she reached the top…

**_Just a little more._ **

She looked down at the clear waters beneath her, cool and calm and welcoming…

Toni shook her hand faster.

She took the plunge, arms spread and face to the sun, falling gracefully, diving into the pool below to sink under and into the depths with a soft moan, lips open and panting against Toni’s face, her body stiffened and rigid and bucking against her.

Until she calmed, floating to the top, the rush clearing from her ears as she resurfaced and took a slow breath.

Toni stilled, pulling back.

“You’re amazing, TT.”

Cheryl brushed sticky pink hair from her forehead and smiled against a bitten lip, their breathing calming in the quiet of the room.

She looked up at Toni’s face, adoring eyes staring back at her and filled her lungs with air, pushing it slowly out through her nose. Despite the flimsy nature of the walls and the bags on the windows and the doors hanging from their hinges, she’d never felt more secure. The wooden doors and metal gates of Thornhill and the bolts and locks of Thistlehouse had never provided her with such safety as she felt right now.

With Toni.

“Your turn now.” She chuckled lightly, sparing a gentle peck to Toni’s lips and turning her onto her back.

Toni obliged with a keen grin, moving to take off her jacket.

“No-” Cheryl contested, stroking a finger teasingly down her neck. “Leave it on.”


	26. You Awake?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back in the house, heels click-clackin' about! I'm finally free. This is a pretty major chapter. I would've liked to have posted more today but honestly I've had two weeks of intensive foreign language exams and literally words mean nothing to me anymore, at least for today. So here's hoping this even makes sense. Hope you enjoy it, comment away, let me know what you think, you guys are always so great and insightful. Thanks so much again for supporting and reading this. I love writing this, I really do, so if you want more I'd be happy to oblige. I'll be back tomorrow with more! I'm off to celebrate and get wasted. PEACE.

Cheryl was sleeping, if you could call it that, restlessly. Intermittent periods of dozing spliced themselves between episodes of unrest, lying uncomfortably beneath a single itchy, cotton sheet, that was undoubtedly going to irritate her creamy skin, and feeling the bumps of old springs under her back creaking out threats to burst out through the mattress and cut her. The muggy heat of the night and the alcohol in her system and the sudden noises, foreign to her in someone else’s home and certainly more threatening, impeded her from relaxing into too deep of a rest.

She lay behind Toni - who was having no issue with _her_ slumber, she noticed enviously – Cheryl’s chest pressed closely to her back, their skin stuck together in the heat.

She opened her eyes, the room almost pitch black save for the soft moonlight misting in through the cheap fabric of Toni’s curtains as they tented slightly in the breeze. The glow-in-the-dark hands of Toni’s clock, slipping crookedly from the wall opposite, read 02:35.

She sighed, shifting closer to Toni. Closing her eyes, she listened to her gentle breathing, hooking her arm around her further and inhaled the salty smell of her hair with a soft sigh.

 _Perfect_.

She wondered if there was a way to capture that essence with pen and paper.

Cheryl heard a sudden sharp intake of breath, Toni’s chest bloating with the inhale as she appeared to wake, and stayed perfectly still. A small hand peeled her pale arm away carefully, setting it lovingly down on the bed and she felt Toni’s body flay away from hers, the cool air hitting her skin.

There was a shift of weight, the creak of springs, the crack of a neck and a groan. Then silence.

Cheryl fought to keep her face relaxed, pretending to sleep, when she felt a soft finger stroke at her temple. The warm skin brushed lightly downwards, softly, ghosting tenderly down her cheek to push some hair behind her ear. She wrestled hard against a smile, her heart beating faster in her chest.

_‘It’s just so **potent** the way she looks at you, Cheryl.’_

Warm breath bristled against her forehead briefly before chapped lips pressed themselves to her hairline, lingering there indulgently for a moment before pulling away.

_Bullseye._

She heard padded footsteps to the door, the soft creaking of hinges and the sound of a toilet lid being lifted.

**_‘Such human emotion, Cheryl.’_ **

**_‘…the purest definition of adoration and genuine human connection’_ **

She was laying, all but on the dirt outside save for a thin artificial floor, in a tin of a home, with no locks on the windows or even windows _at all_ in some places. Surrounded by crime. Deprivation and delinquency and poverty and all the ugly, sordid, unwelcome evidence of the legacy of gentrification. Squalor and guns and drugs and dogs trained to attack and knives in every pocket and no laws or morals or trust. Threat at every turn. Fear and unease and the ethos of ‘every man for himself’ etched into the very _soil_.

So then, why did she feel so safe? So tenderly cocooned? How could _anyone,_ here in this literal Baroque Hell of shouts in the night and fires in oil drums and sinister shadows lurking and out for blood, find it in their heart to leave any space for softness and kindness and ‘ ** _such human emotion, Cheryl._** _’_

How could Toni do that to her? **_For_** her.

She heard a flush and running water, shifting to turn onto her other side to face the pitted bedroom wall as little feet snuck back into the room quietly, shutting the door with a soft click. The bed bowed under the extra weight, the sheet lifting slightly to accommodate Toni as she slid back in behind Cheryl to wrap herself around her snugly.

There was a pause.

A sigh.

A fidget.

Lips pressed to her bare shoulder softly before a chin came to rest on top of it.

Warm breath blew in her ear.

“Cher.” A misty whisper, “you awake?”

She debated her response momentarily, wanting in many ways to pretend that she hadn’t heard so that she could remain a fondly surreptitious witness to the night time antics of little Toni Topaz.

Lips kissed through her hair to the back of her head and she relented, nodding ever so slightly.

“Yes.” She breathed, “Why?”

There was another pause. A longer pause. Drawn out.

_The creak of the bow._

A deep, pondering, stilling pause in which the curtains ceased their floating and the clock seemed to silence its ticking and the choir of noises outside put down their books and went home.

_The wait. The stillness. The perfect combination of angle, precision, wind speed and trajectory, distance._

Statue still.

 _The pause. The final breath. The final _ **release**__ **.**

A focussed, deliberate pause.

_‘The arrow always leaves from the heart.’_

“I love you, Cheryl.”

**_Bullseye._ **

Her lungs stopped, half a breath stuck paralysed in her throat as her body lay stupefied.

It had been so quiet. So soft. A light rumble of breath in the silence of the room.

But it had deafened Cheryl.

“I know it’s only been 3 months.” Toni’s words whispered out like soft thunder in the distance, her arm holding onto to Cheryl tighter. “But, I just know it.”

She paused a third time.

“I _love_ you, Cheryl.”

Those words. Those same words, whispered to her by a girl, under the cover of darkness, wrapped together in bedsheets. Like all those years ago with dear, sweet Heather.

**_I love you, Cheryl._ **

Cheryl’s breath finally came back to her, just a little, jittering slowly out of her shaking chest as Toni spoke again.

“Please don’t think I’m a coward for saying it to you like this. In the dark, not looking you in the eye.” She murmured, her nose rubbing gently against Cheryl’s hair. “It’s just, I _had_ to say it. I had to say it, Cher. I always say what I feel, you know that.” Cheryl could hear the hint of a smile, “And shit, I _feel_ this, Cher. Like I’ve never felt _anything else._ ”

Cheryl’s ears were rushing with noise, her eyes wide open and staring at the textured wall in front of her.

Her lip shook, panicked.

“I…” She could barely breathe.

_‘And, of course, what happens if they say it first?... and you’re left struggling to catch up to them, forcing yourself to love them just to be able to say it back?’_

**_‘I couldn’t imagine saying it, JJ.’_ **

**Dear, sweet Heather.**

_‘I think I love you, Cheryl.’_

“I… can’t… I’m not ready.” She whispered, the words forcing themselves out almost inaudibly with the shaking of her chest rather than being spoken.

Toni’s arm tightened around her even more.

How could she tell Jason she was so afraid of not hearing that promise said back to her? How could she lament on such _a precipice to walk and so blindly too_ when she herself could not reciprocate in this moment, to this girl? To _this_ girl who had seen such horrors and had such hardships and lived so fiercely and bravely and outspoken and yet remained tender, finding joy in smelling flowers and pressing kisses to her hair as she slept.

How could Toni accept that from her?

_‘That irreplaceable feeling of loving and **being loved in return**.’_

“I know.” Toni murmured against her skin, “I know that. That’s why I’m telling you like this. So you don’t have to see it on my face.”

_That look._

_‘it’s just so **potent** , Cheryl.’_

“But I know, Cheryl. I don’t expect you to be ready. I don’t expect to hear it back right now. I wanna hear it when you mean it.”

Cheryl’s body released, her aching chest easing the ropes around it to let her breathe freely again.

**_‘I was just waiting until you were ready to come to me…. I’m not gonna force _anything_  between us.’_ **

“I… thank you.” She whispered.

A kiss was pressed to her shoulder again.

“I just had to tell you, Cher. It’s been killing me.”

The ticking of the clock resumed, the curtains lifted lightly and the crickets and motorcycle engines sang out once more from outside.

_‘I’m not gonna force **anything** between us.’_

Toni’s cold, freshly washed hand weaved its way around Cheryl’s, her fingers slipping perfectly through her own to squeeze it gently.

_‘such human **emotion** , Cheryl.’_

“I will…” Cheryl uttered faintly, “eventually, TT. I will.”

**_I’m not loveless, you know._ **

“I know.”

 

 


	27. Lemon Tart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back, bitches. This is kind of fluffy, kind of angsty. Quite a big one. It's called lemon tart for both literal and figurative reasons. The bitter and the sweet. So enjoy it, as usual comment if you like and let me know what you think. Just going to say trigger warning for mention of Cheryl's suicide attempt. There's no great detail given, it's just mentioned. So keep that in mind, I'd like you guys to feel safe and shit. Much love, let's have a chat in the comments shall we? Adieu.

 

 

“It was a _what?”_

“PG-13 grope session, Cheryl.”

“ _Pardon me?_ ”

“PG-13 **grope session. Cheryl.** All that money in your ears make you deaf?”

A half-eaten lemon tart and accompanying cake fork were pushed across the picnic blanket by pale hands in a protest of disgust.

“With _Jughead_?”

She watched through a scowl as Toni rolled her eyes, an upside-down spoon dragging out of her mouth cleanly.

“ _Yes._ ”

Cheryl huffed at the lack of _any_ attempt to lie her way out of it.

“I thought it was just a kiss, Toni.”

“Well you thought wrong.”

God, sometimes could this beautiful ball of fiery, feminist independence just not be so damn _feisty_?

“Care to explain yourself?”

Dark brows knitted into an indignant frown as Toni turned to face her.

“Absolutely fucking not, what’s to explain? I don’t need to give details about any of my history to you or anyone else, Cheryl. I fooled around with Jones, now he’s my friend. _Our_ friend.”

A light breeze caught red hair and blew it into Cheryl’s face. She whipped it away with her hand, irritated.

“Not for much longer after I give that lost-and-found wearing hitchhiker a damn good _slap_ at sch-“

“Well if you slap him you’ll have to slap me too,” Toni interrupted firmly, her tone rising with frustration. She was evidently _done with this shit_ , as she would say. “How is me doing fucking basically _nothing_ with Jughead, _when we were both **single**_ , his fault?”

Cheryl clenched her teeth together, watching an ant struggle gallantly with a breadcrumb.

“Well maybe I _would_ quite like to _slap you too_.” She muttered childishly, her arms folding rigidly across her chest.

“ ** _Cheryl_.** ” Toni’s tone was final, a warning shot fired into the air as she tried carefully to claw herself back to the line over which she’d just been pushed. “That is a **_shitty_** thing to say.”

The rush of wind in the trees filled the silence, the trickling current of Sweetwater River in front of them adding its own response to the conversation.

Cheryl dropped her hands to her lap, her back nailed straight as she glanced at Toni.

“I was joking.” She explained sheepishly, too proud to let her shame taint her words but feeling it lump itself harshly in her throat.

“Yeah, not cool.” Toni thrust her spoon into the tart to emphasise, challenging eyes staring Cheryl down as she brought the morsel to her mouth and scraped it off neatly with her teeth.

Cheryl swallowed.

“Well, I’m sorry.” She murmured, leaning back on her hand.

“What did I say about jealousy?”

Cheryl sat up straight again, her own frown now plastered to her face. If recalling recited information was the game here, she wasn’t about to sit back and be beaten.

“Well _verbatim, **TT**. _ You said that light jealousy was a million miles away from possessiveness and distrust and, frankly, I don’t believe I’m being possessive, nor distrustful of you, nor any amount of _jealous_ that could be considered as anything other than _light_. So yes I _am **lightly**_ jealous, I won’t deny that I am, but considering that that was a stipulation with which you had no issue I don’t feel the need to apologise. Yes, Toni. I’m somewhat jealous but more so I’m just goddamn _grossed out_.” She fired the words out like a well-oiled artillery weapon, watching with satisfaction as Toni poked her head out of her trench to survey their damage to her argument.

Toni dug her spoon in again, eating the mouthful slowly, biding her time.

Eventually, she swallowed.

“Goddamn you and your way with words, Bombshell.” She sighed, “But, yeah. Touché, I guess.” She looked down to retrieve her champagne flute from the grass and took a sip, her hair covering her face, but Cheryl caught sight of the small smile on her sweet, chapped lips before it was masked in a veil of pink.

“Some anniversary this is shaping up to be, huh?” Toni grunted, a chuckle echoing into the bubbles of her drink.

Cheryl rolled her eyes, tipping her own flute to her lips. She wiped the waxy red stain of her lipstick from the rim with a napkin, placing it down.

The sounds of the river filled their silence once more.

Cheryl’s eyes followed the water, drifting over the rocks to the river bank and along the lush green grass until she reached her feet, tapping the pointed toes of her hard patent heels together idly.

“I wouldn’t ever actually _strike_ you, TT.”

She watched from the corner of her eye as Toni’s head reared back on her neck in shock.

“Jesus _Christ,_ Cheryl. I **know** that. What the fuck?” Toni’s surprise seemed to win out over her incredulity and she barked out a stunned laugh, shaking her head as it echoed into the trees. “I’d wipe your damn eyebrows off your face if you did.”

She laughed at her own joke, her lips pressed into an amused smirk as she turned to meet Cheryl’s gaze.

_That look._

Cheryl looked away, reaching out to take Toni’s hand in hers and focussing her eyes to the scuffs on her tanned knuckles, running her thumb across them gently.

It had been just over a week since that night in the trailer.

**_I love you, Cheryl._ **

The memory of the words still sent a pleasurable stirring down her spine. She would think of it when she was alone, goosebumps scattering over her skin, a faint smile playing at her lips.

Someone _loved_ her.

Someone loved **her**.

Cheryl Blossom was **_loved_**.

So soft. So kind. So _true_. The weight of that quiet moment rested soothingly around her shoulders, the warmth of that whispered breath still hot in her ear.

She glanced up at Toni who was leaning her head back to the sun, eyes closed, light bouncing abundantly over her soft cheeks.

That girl _loved_ her.

She bit her red lip, a grin threatening to escape.

**_I love you, Cheryl._ **

_That_ girl.

That amazing, beautiful, tiny, tender girl had opened her heart to the icy redheaded bitch who’d condemned her as nothing but _Southside Scum_.

She listened. She waited. She cared. She was always having to take a step back and let _Cheryl_ live. Let _Cheryl_ talk. Let _Cheryl_ have the attention. All she did was give.

And now she was giving her _love._

Fucking **_love_**. The only commodity in the world that was held in abundance and yet remained priceless.

**Love.**

**_‘I love you, Cheryl.’_ **

_Will she wait for you, Cheryl? Will she wait for you to let her in? To use that control you’ve taken and finally pay back what she deserves?_

_Will she, Cheryl?_

_Everyone you’ve ever loved leaves you. Just when you start to feel it. When you **know** it’s real. _

_Just when you **want** to say it…_

_Will **she** wait, little bird?_

A bolt of panic suddenly smacked her straight in the chest.

_‘I wanna hear it when you mean it.’_

_‘I’m not gonna force **anything** between us.’_

**_‘I couldn’t imagine saying it, JJ.’_ **

She blinked, sitting up straight, her eyes darting randomly over the remaining scraps of their picnic as she tried to steady her breathing, letting go of Toni’s hand to push her hair back from her face.

Toni opened her eyes, frowning as she lowered her head in concern.

Oh _God_ , would she stop being so fucking _compassionate_ for a minute?

“You ok, Cher?”

Tanned fingers delved gently into red hair and pushed it behind Cheryl’s ear.

 _That look._ If she turned her head and raised her eyes she’d be _looking_ at her with those kind eyes and **_that look_** _._

Her breathing quickened and she disguised it behind a cough, tidying the empty containers into the hamper aimlessly to busy her hands and eyes.

“Of course, TT.”

A comfortable silence reigned between them again, the spritely twitter of a bird calling out to them.

_Peace._

“Happy anniversary, Cheryl.”

Her voice was so calm. Deep. Rooted and natural. Pure like rich soil; sprouting affirmations and sweet murmurs and raspy moans to flourish around her.

Cheryl looked up at her, her breath catching. The sun shone behind her, peeking through the periphery of her hair and lighting an aura of calm, hazy light to the pink tinted strands. She was smiling. Softly, oh so slightly, the left corner of her perfect mouth tilted upwards. But, her eyes. Those goddamn fucking _lovely_ brown eyes. They were so open, pupils fully dilated, peering back and forth between Cheryl’s with a look of expectation, of adoration and acceptance and longing.

Of **love**.

Cheryl’s chest ached painfully, the sting of tears threatening at her eyes.

 _That look_.

Veronica was right, it really was potent.

“Happy anniversary, TT.” She whispered, too overwhelmed to pretend that she could talk.

Toni leaned forward then, meeting Cheryl in the middle as their mouths brushed against each other delicately, soft against softer, before she opened her mouth to take Cheryl’s bottom lip beneath hers. They paused for a moment, pressed together perfectly, Cheryl’s long fingers gripping into the blanket beneath them. Toni pulled back barely a millimetre, their lips unsticking slowly.

It was heated. Intense. Perhaps the most weighted, passionate kiss Cheryl had ever shared.

 **_Bullseye_ ** _._

She felt Toni’s nose rubbing gently against her cheek, warm breath against the side of her mouth.

“God, Cher. I lo-”

Toni stiffened, catching her words in her throat and pulling back from her suddenly, searching Cheryl’s eyes.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help-”

“You can say it, TT.” Cheryl breathed, nodding her head as she reached out to place her palm across Toni’s breast, over her heart. The skin was warm and buttery soft, pushing willingly back into her hand.

“I’m not pressuring you I just-”

“TT.” Cheryl paused, an understanding smile on her face, “You can say it. It’s ok.”

Toni’s eyes softened and she swallowed, her lips churning together as she bit back a grin.

“I love you.”

Were it not for the fact that Cheryl had been sitting, those words combined with _that look_ would have been enough to knock her to the ground. She sat, winded, dropping her hand from Toni’s chest.

That was love.

 **This** was love.

Those eyes were promising Cheryl the _world._ There was _nothing_ this girl wouldn’t do for her.

She could feel it.

She could _see_ it.

_You see, little bird? **She’ll wait.**_

Toni looked away as a horsefly landed on her arm, swatting it away before it could bite her.

“That was supposed to be a secret anyway. The Jughead thing.” She drawled, shifting to lie down on the blanket. “I don’t really want my friends finding out. Especially not Sweets.”

“Well, don’t worry, TT. It’s safe with me. I certainly don’t want people knowing about it”

Toni glanced up at her, rolling her eyes.

“You should tell me a secret. Now you know that about me.”

Cheryl’s turn to roll her eyes.

“No seriously, Bombshell. It’s our anniversary. We started this relationship playing that game in Archie’s kitchen, makes sense to do it today.”

She sent Cheryl a roguish grin, tilting her head.

Cheryl caved.

“Fine, Toni. Fine. Let me think.” She frowned, picking at the grass as she thought, minutes ticking peacefully by.

“Before we’re dead maybe, Cheryl?”

“Oh hush, Cha-Cha.”

She turned to look at her, raising a challenging eyebrow.

“I used to have quite an intoxicating crush on Josie.”

This seemed to perk Toni’s attention. She sat up on her elbows, a light frown creasing her brow.

“McCoy?”

“Yes, _obviously_ , TT.”

“You had a crush on Josie?”

“ _Yes_.”

“Josie McCoy?”

“ _Yes Josie McCoy, Toni._ ” Cheryl snipped impatiently. “Well, it was rather more of an obsession to be honest. It really did reach quite intense levels.”

Toni’s frown seemed to be deepening.

“You had an obsession with Josie McCoy?”

Cheryl rolled her eyes, turning away, “Who’s the deaf one now, Cha-Cha? Gosh.”

She’d expected a reply immediately, Toni’s sarcasm never something to be restrained. At least within the first 10 seconds. At a push the first _minute_. After almost 3 she thought it was downright _weird_.

She turned to look back at her, watching as Toni’s eyes trailed aimlessly over the grass in front of them, looking but not seeing as she appeared to be deep in thought. She was nibbling at the skin of her top lip, an antsy restlessness to her legs.

Cheryl knew that look.

Oh, she knew it _well._

Oh this was _perfect._

She pulled her lips back into a slingshot of a grin, slowly, calculating as she aimed her words carefully at Toni.

“You’re jealous.”

Pink hair fell quickly from her shoulder as Toni snapped her head in Cheryl’s direction, shifting her weight on the blanket with her elbows.

“Well yeah. Actually. I am, a little.”

_Interesting._

Cheryl beamed, a smug chuckle rumbling up through her chest and reverberating out of her red lips, head thrown back as she laughed at the clear sky.

“Oh, how the mighty have fallen.”

“Oh shut it, Cheryl.” She grumbled, digging the heel of her boot into the dirt. “It’s my turn anyway.”

Toni’s face seemed to ease, a lightness lifting to her eyes as she glanced at her hand.

“A couple weeks after joining school...” she paused, rolling her eyes, “I might’ve told my grandpa that I liked you.” She let out a scoffed laugh, “Like, thought you were mad pretty.”

Cheryl’s face relaxed, wide eyes looking over Toni’s face.

“Did you really?”

“Yes.”

_You see, Little Bird. **She’ll wait.**_

“I’m touched, TT.”

Toni rolled her eyes yet _again_ , shrugging one shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah. Your turn, Cheryl.”

“Right.”

Well if Toni could be bashful and still look threatening and powerful, why couldn’t Cheryl for once?

_Take control._

“I,” She cleared her throat, determined not to be embarrassed, why should she? It was only natural. “…on quite a few occasions before we started dating, thought about you and masturbated.” She lifted her chin, looking Toni dead in the eye.

Toni was smirking.

She dragged her eyes over Cheryl slowly, biting at the corner of her lip.

Cheryl shivered.

“Got off on me huh, Bombshell?”

Oh here we go, bring on the teasing onslaught.

She was met with a simple shrug.

“Totally normal. Everyone does it. In fact, for my turn, I’ll admit that I’ve done it thinking about you a ton.” She took hold of her champagne, draining the rest of the glass in one sip. “Who wouldn’t? You’re fucking hot.”

Cheryl’s mouth slackened in disbelief.

Just like all those months ago when they’d first played this game, Cheryl had revealed a truth to Toni and been met with absolutely no judgement.

_You see, Little Bird. **She’ll wait.**_

No judgement.

She looked out at the river, full and flowing and warm at this time of the year, and remembered when it had been winter. When a thick sheet of ice had covered the current and joined each river bank like a frozen continental plate. She remembered sorrow. Desperation. Utter hopelessness. Numbness. Then cold. Frozen, piercing, painful cold that had sucked the air from her lungs as she’d plummeted down. Then the panic. The regret. The sudden will to carry on living just as it was sapped away from her.

She shivered.

“Your turn, Cheryl.”

_No judgement._

“Last winter I came out here to Sweetwater River to drown myself.” She saw Toni falter into stiffness from the corner of her eye. “I walked out onto the ice and fell through and Veronica and Betty and Archie and Jughead managed to get me out in time.”

She paused then, for once giving Toni the opportunity to talk and waiting patiently for _her_.

“Because of Jason.” Toni finally murmured. It was more of a realisation than a question.

Cheryl nodded, not yet daring to look at her. It wasn’t an easy thing to digest and she supposed there wasn’t a lot to say. She didn’t expect anything from Toni.

She listened to the trickle of the water, no longer fearful of it. She’d taken _control_.

She heard movement from beside her, a warm body coming to sit sideways on her lap. She looked up at Toni, small hands coming to rest on the side of her face as warm lips kissed her forehead.

_Peace._

Toni’s arms bundled around her head and shoulders, pulling her face into her chest, holding it there securely for a moment.

“I… can’t even begin to imagine what you’ve been through, Cher.” She was clearly holding back, her raspy voice sounding pinched as she murmured into Cheryl’s hair. “I’ve met plenty of hard-asses in my life, but you’re definitely the damn toughest person I’ve ever met. And because of that, you’re still here. And I’m lucky enough to get to love a badass like you. You’re in control now, Cher.”

_Control._

Cheryl gripped her hands into the back of Toni’s shirt gently.

_You see, Little Bird. **She’ll wait.**_

“I’m Ok now, though, TT.” She muffled into Toni’s cleavage.

“Nah, you’re better than that, Cheryl.” A kiss to her temple. “You’re fucking perfect.”

 

 


	28. Ivy League.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some Veronica action as it proved popular the last time. Enjoy!

 

The cool, hard metal of a locker door pressed into Cheryl’s palm as she leaned against it. In sharp sensory contrast, her other hand scrunched its fingers fiercely into the front of a soft cotton t-shirt, resting tightly clamped between two toned stomachs.

She hummed, a grunt passing through her lips to muffle against Toni’s.

She gripped her hand tighter; pulling the little body away from the flimsy metal she was pressed against and pushed deeper against her face, Toni’s head backing further into the open locker behind her. The door lay open, obstructing their faces from view as Cheryl continued to devour her mouth ravenously, small hands winding intricately into her red hair.

Shit, she could do this all fucking day.

Toni grunted out a protest, using the free space behind her to pull back with a smack. Cheryl whined trying to catch her lips again.

“Cheryl I have to go-”

She was silenced by red lipstick, a tongue pressing eagerly into her mouth.

_Touch._

God, she couldn’t get enough.

Cheryl steadied her feet on the damp locker room floor, sinking her teeth into a supple, buttery lip when footsteps sounded out sharply in the silence. They clicked slowly across the room, coming to a stop behind the door.

“Toni? Fangs is outside, he says you need to hurry up.”

Veronica.

Goddammit, Cheryl had forgotten about their arrangement for the two of them to go to Pop’s after practice.

She rolled her eyes, pulling back reluctantly, releasing the lip clamped between hers with a soft pop, and smirked at the sight of Toni’s face.

“Very well, TT.” She sighed, giving her one final peck before raising a hand to rub the red smears from Toni’s lips with her thumb. “Be on your way.”

She stood back; watching as Toni peeled herself from the lower locker, her face gorgeously flushed, and closed the door above it, bending to grab her bag.

“See you tonight, Cher.” She turned to Veronica, smirking, with a nod, “Ronnie.” She reached out behind her to take Cheryl’s hand, closing her little fingers around it in an affectionate squeeze before dropping it and making her way to the door. Cheryl caught her parting smile, sending back one of her own.

“Cheryl Blossom making out on school property? You utter _horn dog._ ”

Cheryl rolled her eyes, tilting her head to Veronica.

“You of all people dare mock me for that, Veronica? I’m surprised to find that the syllabus isn’t written on Archie’s face with the amount of hours of the school day that you spend attached to it.” She quipped dismissively, stepping over to the bench to sit primly upon it and fold her discarded Vixen’s shirt into her bag.

“Hey, chill out,” Veronica chuckled, crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned against the lockers in front of Cheryl, “I’m not judging. I mean I totally get it, today _in particular_ Toni was looking just really-”

Cheryl lifted her head to look at her, a red brow quirked and _daring_ her to continue.

Veronica seemed to understand.

“Just really intelligent and powerful and important as a woman and a human being.” She saved.

Cheryl’s lips stretched into a smirk as she tugged at the zipper on her bag.

“You can say she’s attractive, Veronica. I’m certainly not going to disagree.”

Veronica shifted, rolling her eyes.

“So anyway,” She started, her tone clearly indicating that she was fishing, “how was your anniversary?”

Cheryl pulled out her compact mirror, setting it on the bench.

“Delightful, thank you.” She replied, guardedly.

Again, Veronica decided not to press her luck.

“Well, great, Cheryl. I’m pleased for you. And how was staying at her trailer the other week? I never got a chance to ask you. Good I hope?”

Cheryl paused, glancing her eyes away from her reflection to look Veronica up and down, gauging her intent.

She was relaxed against the lockers, her demeanour casual, her eyes interested and seemingly genuinely _caring_. Her smile was pretty and natural, no cover for relishing in the sick joy of more sinister motives.

Should she tell her?

**_I love you, Cheryl._ **

She had been very insightful the last time they’d spoken.

And she had professed herself to be a true friend. A _best friend_.

But, Cheryl was nothing if not a product of her upbringing. Secrets were secrets and information was currency and _that_ abundant wealth was not something to be shared. She was no emotional _Communist._

But, surely, this _was_ something that best friends shared? In the real world, the _normal_ world outside of the wrought iron gates of Thornhill that now lay abandoned, this was something to be shared. Something joyous and blissful to be whispered excitedly between friends, to be met with congratulatory squeals and claps and hugs of celebration.

She wanted that.

She dragged the pad of her ring finger along the line of her bottom lip, neatening the smears and looked back to her mirror.

No high-school espionage detected. Veronica clearly lacked any ominous agenda.

 _There’s nothing to be afraid of here, Cheryl. Not everyone is out to humiliate you_.

**_You’re in control._ **

She clicked the compact shut with a snap, straightening her back as she looked down to slip it back into her bag.

“She told me that she loves me.”

Had the room not been so pin-drop quiet, save for the steady gentle dripping of a shower head, Cheryl wouldn’t have heard the tiny gasp which emanated from Veronica. She looked up to see the other girl, quite literally, clutching at her pearls.

“I _knew_ it!” She whispered, bright white teeth coming out to scrape over her bottom lip as her smile grew. Her eyes widened excitedly.

“Oh my _god_ , Cheryl. This is _huge!_ ” She paced back and forth on the graying tiles, her heels clicking against their dampness, deep in victorious thought. Then she stopped, turning to Cheryl with a grin, repeating her words. “Oh my _god._ Toni said she _loves_ you, Cheryl!”

Her realisation of the weight of it all was dawning on her gradually, like the sun peeking out of the horizon to warm Cheryl as two arms enveloped her in a tight hug.

“ _Oh my god, Cheryl. She **loves** you!_” She squeezed her tighter before pulling back.

Their eyes met.

Cheryl’s own smile burst forth as she nodded.

“Holy _shit_ , this is so _exciting_!” Veronica gushed, taking a seat next to her on the bench and placing her hand on Cheryl’s forearm, “Did you say it back?”

Cheryl stiffened, her smile faltering slightly at the corners of her mouth.

_‘I wanna hear it when you’re ready.’_

“No.” She breathed.

‘ _I’m not gonna force **anything** between us.’_

_There’s nothing to be afraid of here, Cheryl._

“No, I didn’t,” She flicked her eyes between Veronica’s, “I’m not ready.”

Veronica’s smile dropped, her lips pressing themselves into a line. But she didn’t seem displeased. She was calming herself, her face remaining soft despite the seriousness of her words.

“That is perfectly ok, Cheryl.” She nodded, her eyes staring deeply into Cheryl’s to make her sincerity clear, “I _totally_ understand. Thank you for being so honest with me. You don’t need to say something just because you feel you have to. I’m proud of you. And I’ll take a pretty educated guess and assume that Toni wasn’t mad about it either was she?”

Cheryl let out a relived breath, shaking her head.

“No, God no, not at all. She was very understanding, even the _way_ she told me, she’d considered my feelings beforehand. She was perfect.”

**_I love you, Cheryl._ **

She bit her lip as it tilted upwards slowly.

Veronica smiled. “God she’s great isn’t she?”

Cheryl nodded again.

_You’re in control._

“But you do love her.”

It wasn’t a question. It was barely even a thought. Veronica had pulled her spine straight, eyebrows raised knowingly, and regarded Cheryl with a pure smugness that could only come from someone who was _absolutely certain_ of their words. It was a statement of **fact.**

Cheryl couldn’t even argue.

It **was** a statement of fact.

She **did** love Toni.

There had never been any _question_ of that.

She just couldn’t bring herself to say it.

If she kept it down, kept it within herself, in the freedom of the inside of her own mind then it was safe. Sacred. But as soon as she admitted to utter those words out loud, something, _someone_ – her parents usually – would snatch that peaceful realisation straight from her hands and toss it into the fire.

But her parents couldn’t do that anymore.

She took a deep breath.

_There’s nothing to be afraid of here, Cheryl._

Her father was dead in a pauper’s grave and her mother was suitably reined-in, obediently living under the regime of Cheryl’s rules for fear of being cast-out.

It wouldn’t materialize in front of her only to disappear into dust.

It _couldn’t_ anymore, she wouldn’t let it.

_You’re in control._

Her friends were supportive, her dear brother would no doubt have been elated for her and she was happy. Truly, utterly, happily at _peace_.

Cheryl nodded, the words struggling to form on her tongue, fixing themselves awkwardly to her vocal cords like a foreign language as they fell out of her mouth unpractised.

“I do,” She stated firmly, “I do love her.”

She’d said it so many times to herself, inside her head. But never aloud.

It was freeing.

_Control._

“See?” Veronica said matter-of-factly, shrugging her shoulder, “I’m not saying you _have_ to run and tell her just because it’s true, I get why you need to take your time. But don’t be worried that you don’t mean it when you eventually do. It’s pretty obvious, Cheryl.”

The words had calmed her until she’d reached the end, Cheryl’s brow furrowing as she looked to Veronica’s face for clarity.

“What do you mean?”

Veronica rolled her eyes, no doubt the words ‘ _oh **this** again’_ rolling through her mind.

She opened her mouth to speak before stopping herself, holding up a hand and tilting her head.

“You know what? No. I’m not giving you this. You can work this out for yourself.” She explained, turning her body fully to face Cheryl.

Her eyes squinted as she thought of her words carefully, dotting over Cheryl’s face.

“How do you feel when you look at her?” She began, her hands clasped tightly in her lap like the Freudian pantomime of the faux therapist she was currently playing, missing only her glasses and a notepad, “When you look at Toni, Cheryl. What do you see?”

Cheryl immediately felt uncomfortable, wishing she were anywhere else, the freedom of actual, _genuine_ conversation with another woman of her peers and about her _feelings_ of all things seeming very foreign and very rare to her.

_Take control._

She cleared her throat, flicking her eyes to her floor tiles behind Veronica.

“I see,” she took a breath, shrugging “A pretty girl. And, I feel attraction.”

Veronica regarded her with irritation, discontented with the response as she lifted a finger to scratch at the corner of her eye.

“That was so goddamn banal I am struggling not to throttle you, Cheryl.” She deadpanned, giving her a knowing stare. “You have a better mind than most people I’ve met and you’ll make an Ivy League _very_ happy one day, but _that_ was not an Ivy League answer, Cheryl. That wasn’t a 4.0 GPA answer and it _certainly_ wasn’t a Blossom answer. And you know it. You know exactly what I’m asking. Don’t insult us both.”

Shit, had her mother died and her spirit inhabited Veronica’s body? Jesus.

Cheryl rolled her eyes, caught out.

“Fine, Veronica. One day I _will_ manage to pull the wool over your eyes.” She clucked her tongue, sucking in a deep breath through her nose and looking down at Veronica’s hands.

“When I look at Toni,” She sighed, a smile sprouting at the edges of her mouth, “I feel… peace. I feel contentment. I feel… the world slow down and my problems leave me alone. I feel like I’d rather not be anywhere else. I feel everything that has happened, is happening or will ever happen easing off my shoulders into nothingness. It doesn’t matter. Nothing else matters. There’s no _requirement_ for contingency or worry or even _thought_ about _anything else_ because it all means nothing. Why would anything else take precedence over what is right in front of me?”

She paused, her smile tugging her teeth into view.

“I literally _feel_ warmth. I feel in control. Nothing is a problem, nothing is a constant, nothing is _anything_. All meaning gets turned on its head. My perspective is so _clear_. Even if it’s wrong or silly, it’s _clear_ to me. I feel like that is the foundation. Of us, of me, of _life_ , I don’t know. But I look at her and I feel like as long as I have _that_ , everything else is easy.”

She took a deep breath, raising her eyebrows.

“And what do I see? I see… a pretty girl.” She laughed, nodding, “But I see, stability. From her to me and me to her. A partnership. I see, a reprieve. I see, a gift. A chance I’ve been given. I see the future. I finally see _a_ future. A life beyond duty. A world beyond expectation. I see that _I_ can finally be the one to dictate where it takes me. I see a life in which I can actually _live_ , not just in which to simply survive.”

She blinked, dragging her gaze to Veronica’s.

“How was that answer?”

Veronica sucked her cheeks into hollowed pits, her smile breaking through.

“One a Harvard admissions board would be proud to accept I think.”

“Oh please,” Cheryl scoffed, “For fine arts? I’d much rather Cornell or Columbia.”

They shared a smile.

 _Best friends_.

“You might be good at shielding your emotions, Cheryl. Russian Cold-war operative _good_ at it. But you can’t hold all of that in your head when you look at Toni and expect other people not to see it.”

Cheryl supposed she was right. It was naïve to think so. Not that she’d ever admit it out loud, and certainly not _to_ the girl _,_ but in some ways, Veronica surpassed the equality of their intellect to be much smarter than she.

“Well,” Veronica sighed, smoothing the seat of her dress as she stood, “I’m glad I could be of help once again. I expect full credit to be given to me when you regale this tale of your love affair to your children.”

Cheryl laughed.

“Will you accept a brief footnote?” She compromised.

Veronica looked disgusted.

“Certainly _not._ ”

“An honourable mention then?”

“I want co-author privileges, Cheryl. Or I’m involving my legal counsel.”

“Fine.” Cheryl conceded, chuckling lightly to herself as she hooked her bag over her arm and stood from the bench.

She followed Veronica to the door, stopping before she reached it.

“Veronica,” She said quietly, “… thank you. For everything.”

A warm hand pressed itself against Cheryl’s shoulder.

“This doesn’t mean you have to rush into anything ok, Cheryl?” She whispered, looking her in the eye, “But I know what’s going on in that head of yours and if you can bring yourself to say all of that out loud to me, then you know that anything else can be said too. Even _those_ 3 words.”

She dropped her hand to Cheryl’s, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“Now come on, Cheryl Bombshell. You owe me a milkshake.”

 

 


	29. Bathtub.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know what you're all waiting for and you'll just have to wait and see. Analyze, comment, all that good shit if you want to. Mostly just enjoy it. Peace out.

 

 

Cheryl licked her smirking lips, delighting in the taste that met her tongue as the soft thighs clamped to either side of her head relaxed. She relished in the sound of gentle moans, a soft rhythmic panting of breath soothing her as she lathed her tongue once more, small hands tufting lightly into her hair.

“Fuck, Cheryl.”

She pulled back, pressing a line of soft kisses along Toni’s inner thigh.

“What have I said about your language, TT?” She teased, leaning forward to press a lingering peck to the middle of Toni’s stomach with her full lips before crawling over her to lie on top of her body. “Am I getting better?”

Toni’s panting chest stuttered in a laugh. “Oh not much, Bombshell.” She murmured sarcastically, hands coming up to hold her face. Cheryl watched as Toni noted her smug smirk, a dark eyebrow quirking at her. “Don’t feel too special, Cheryl. With the amount of practice you’ve been getting it’d be kinda difficult _not_ to improve.”

“Now, now, Cha-Cha. Your bitterness is showing.”

She leaned forward to kiss her, Toni’s chuckle getting lost against her lips.

She heard the rush of the bath water filling the tub from her bathroom off to the side and retracted her head, leaving a pattering of soft kisses to Toni’s cheek.

“I think the bath is almost ready, TT. When you’ve caught your breath, come and join me.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Toni muttered, grinning as she pulled her down for a parting peck.

_There’s nothing to be afraid of here, Cheryl._

Cheryl pushed herself from the bed, tugging a hair tie from her wrist and piling her long hair into a bun as she strutted to the bathroom, the warm steam hitting her skin as she stepped onto the tiles.

“TT, do you like lavender?” She called out, hearing an apathetic grunt of affirmation in return and pouring the oil into the bubbles floating on top of the water. She reached over to turn off the tap, gripping the cold sides of the spacious, clawfoot tub as she stepped over and lowered herself down.

The warmth enveloped her delightfully, slippery, soapy water lapping at her collarbones as she rested her arms on the edge, letting her eyes fall shut and her head fall back.

She felt the condensation catching in her hair, beads collecting coolly on her forehead as the crisp scent of the bubbles broke through the steam to tickle her nose. Lavender seeped into her head with each gentle fluttering of the water, oozing down through her body to relax her muscles into the smooth porcelain beneath her.

“Cher, you got a hair tie?” She heard muffled from the other room, her jaw feeling heavy as she murmured her reply.

“On the vanity.”

She ran her foot against her calf, the skin slippery from the oils in the water and let out a soft sigh, sinking a little deeper into the water.

 _Peace_.

She jumped slightly, flicking drops of water with her finger tips as she felt a kiss pressed to her temple, opening her eyes to see the chapped lips responsible for it stretching into a pretty grin.

“About time.”  She reached her damp fingers up to curl around Toni’s neck, bringing her head down to meet her face and catching her mouth with hers in a slow kiss. Raking her eyes along her perfect little body, she watched Toni manoeuvre herself into the water to join her, slipping between Cheryl’s legs to lean back against her chest.

They sat for a moment, in silence, their bodies easing together blissfully.

“I love baths.” Toni murmured, her words cutting through the hazy steam. “When you grow up in a trailer park with just a tiny shower cubicle to use you really make the most of it when you get to take one.”

Cheryl smiled, lifting her hand through the bubbles to drip water onto the dry skin of Toni’s shoulder, watching mesmerised as it dropped smoothly over the contoured gully of her collarbone and down her chest. She knew there were many things inside her head at that moment that needed to be said aloud eventually but this particular thought she wanted to keep for herself. One day, as silly and hopeful and idealistic as it may sound, she wanted to buy a house for Toni with a bath. The big, welcoming bathtub she’d never had and wide acre gardens full of flowers and silk sheets on their bed. No bags over windows or ragged mattresses.

_‘in which I can actually live, not just in which to simply survive…’_

Security.

Stability.

She smiled lightly to herself.

“I’ve never given them much thought in all honesty but right now I can certainly see their merit.” Cheryl drawled in reply, closing her eyes and leaning her head back as she felt Toni’s chuckle through her back.

Tiny, skilled hands tickled their fingers over her knees under the water, smoothing their palms down her shins before making their way back up slowly and repeating the cycle again.

Cheryl felt herself drift, her body feeling heavy as soft hair tickled under her chin and mixed its earthen smell to the lavender oil emanating from the water, easing her back to the fertile rows of Provencal fields from her childhood, freshly sharpened to the senses after the rain.

_There’s nothing to be afraid of here, Cheryl._

**_Peace._ **

She lost track of time.

_‘I feel everything that has happened, is happening or will ever happen easing off my shoulders into nothingness.’_

_‘ **Nothing else matters.** ’_

She only opened her eyes when she felt Toni shift on her chest, warm lips pressing tenderly to her throat.

“What day is it today, Cher?”

Cheryl grunted. She’d woken her for that?

“Tuesday.”

“Ok.”

She eased the frown on her brow, relaxing back into her reverie and closing her eyes before her _damn_ curiosity got the better of her.

“Why?”

Toni didn’t reply straight away, her fingers still caressing Cheryl’s legs beneath the surface.

“I have to go away on Friday. With the Serpents.”

Cheryl opened her eyes again, stiffening as she glanced over the white plaster of her bathroom ceiling.

“To do what exactly?”

She knew the answer that was coming.

“Cher, I can’t tell you. Even I won’t know fully until we get there. You know I would if I could.”

Cheryl pressed her lips together.

“Where are you going?”

“Cheryl, I can’t tell you that either.”

She dropped her head, looking down to see Toni staring up at her.

“Well then how will I know that you’re safe?”

The skin of Toni’s shoulders bobbed gently above the waterline as she shrugged, dragging her eyes over Cheryl’s face.

“Guess you’ll have to trust me.”

Cheryl let a deep breath out through her nose.

“And everyone else? Can I trust them, TT?”

“Cher, I was born into the Serpents. I inherited the legacy through my grandpa. I’ve been an official member for years. I’ve done a ton of these… outings throughout my life and I’m still here aren’t I? _I_ trust them. So you can too.”

She seemed defensive in her answer, proud, unrelenting.

As much as it invalidated Cheryl’s concerns she couldn’t help but find it endearing.

She looked over Toni’s face.

It wasn’t exactly up for debate.

The girl was hardly _asking_.

“Ok.”

Toni visibly relaxed, lifting her head to peck the curve of Cheryl’s jaw.

“I’ll be back by Sunday night. I don’t know what time exactly, but I can come here straight from the Wyrm if you want?”

Cheryl nodded, connecting the freckles on Toni’s cheeks with her eyes.

The water swayed against the lip of the tub as she turned in Cheryl’s lap, sitting to straddle her hips and grip the side behind her.

“Look, Cher. This is something you’ll get used to I promise.” She smiled encouragingly, lowering her voice to a whisper. “But I get it, ok? I know it’s hard for you, for things to be _out of your control_.”

Cheryl swallowed.

“But it’s ok. It’s all ok, Cher.”

_Everyone you've ever loved leaves you, Cheryl._

“It’s just two days, and I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

Cheryl nodded, glancing at a tuft of bubbles as it floated away from them.

“Look at me, Cheryl.”

She tore her eyes back.

“I love you.”

 _That look_.

“You’re in control. It’s all gonna be ok. Ok?”

_You’re in control._

Wet hands pressed warmly to her neck, sending a shiver along Cheryl’s back as Toni’s lips pressed against hers hard, meaningfully, pushing her head into the cold porcelain behind her before pulling back with a smack.

_There’s nothing to be afraid of here, Cheryl._

“Ok.”

 

 


	30. Basement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another literal and figurative title. Would loved to hear your insight as to how it could be. This took fucking ages and was exhausting. Feedback to me if you feel so inclined. Enjoy, fellas. I think you'll like it.

 

 

It was truly surprising how valuable of a distraction school work could be. Even in love. Even a hormonal 17 year old in love. Even a hormonal 17 year old in love, with no idea as to where their beloved was or what multitude of sordid things they were getting up to, could find the merit in burying themselves into their school work to avoid thinking about it.

It was funny, or perhaps sad, how the threat of dropping one grade in one class and missing out on one’s dream college allowed one to forget that anything else other than the fact that _that_ sentence on _that_ page in _that_ book should be highlighted, underlined and committed to memory.

If anything, for Cheryl, homework was simply a hobby. She could be _teaching_ the damn classes, let alone pacing herself ahead of the entire year. But, alas, Friday through to Sunday, with the brief exception of Saturday night when she’d spent the evening with Kevin and Josie, she had seldom left herself a minute away from her books.

If she hadn’t, she’d have been thinking about it.

About _her._

Where she was, was she ok, was she in danger, was she in _custody_?

**_“It’s just two days, and I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”_ **

The words had echoed around her head any time she’d left it empty enough of information.

She _knew_ she was. She knew Toni could hold her own in a brawl, or break up a bar fight or play look out or delivery driver or give a signal for a drop off. She _knew_ that.

But in those instances she also _knew_ that Toni would be walking into school the next day or visiting Thistlehouse after work or at least _texting her back_.

But now, she didn’t even know where she _was_ for Christ’s sake.

Cheryl had kissed her goodbye on Friday night, insisting on driving her to the Whyte Wyrm but eventually relenting when Toni had outright refused. She’d waited all of ten minutes before sending her a good luck text and that was the last that they had interacted since.

Cheryl rather thought she’d been very good. She hadn’t wanted to be _that_ girl and certainly not _that girlfriend_ , pestering Toni with texts simply for her own peace of mind when she clearly had more serious business to focus on.

So she’d left it at that, waiting, with her signature childish impatience, for Toni to reply.

But it didn’t mean her fingers didn’t itch for her phone.

It didn’t mean she hadn’t glanced at it every 2 minutes hoping to see a message.

It didn’t mean she wasn’t _really fucking not ok with it._

So, she’d stuck her nose in a book and tried desperately to forget about it.

She’d even finished Toni’s fucking homework for her.

So, when she’d seen her phone flash on Sunday evening at precisely 20:41, she’d been out of her reading chair and across the room in seconds.

_‘At the Wyrm. Be at yours later x.’_

It was clinical, a little too cold for Cheryl’s liking despite the humidity of the night.

But, it was Toni.

And she was ok.

**_But it’s ok. It’s all ok, Cher._ **

Never one to deny herself of something that she wanted for too long, Cheryl had slipped on a jacket and was crunching her heels hurriedly across Thistlehouse driveway to her car inside of a minute.

She’d decided to surprise Toni, pick her up from the Wyrm, kiss her breathless and bundle her into her bedroom to fuck her senseless for the rest of the goddamn night.

 

 

Thus, here she sat, staring at the dimly lit exterior of the ramshackle bar, running her eyes over corrugated iron and flickering bulbs, gripping her hands to her seatbelt as it slid slowly out of her fingers.

_There’s nothing to be afraid of here, Cheryl._

_You’re in control._

She opened her door, stepping one long leg onto the broken ground and heard a yell cry out into the night, punctuated harshly with a crash of a garbage can.

Maybe she could wait to catch Toni leaving?

_There’s nothing to be afraid of here, Cheryl._

No. No, Toni was inside there. Her perfect little Toni was inside that building, twenty feet away.

She could do this.

_Since when have you let **anything** intimidate you, Cheryl Blossom?_

She hauled herself out of the car, pushing the door shut and locked it over her shoulder as she strutted quickly across the parking lot, stepping neatly around the unidentifiable puddles and cracks and cigarette butts strewn liberally like seeds to grow ugliness and disarray and dilapidation.

She was almost ready to release the tense breath she’d been holding greedily in her chest, the entrance looming ever closer into her sight, when the front door, battered and beaten and littered with gouges, had swung open violently to crash against the wall.

“Fuckin’ DISASTER. Total fuckin’ _FUCK UP_. We coulda fuckin’ DIED. What the fuck is goin’ on with this damn fuckin’ leadership?!”

Cheryl froze in place as two large, lumbering figures barged out at her, the taller of the two belting a rock across the parking lot with the steel-capped toe of his boot as he’d barked out his expletive rant.

He had his hand to his face, a filthy, blood soaked rag scrunched roughly in his fingers as he held it to his forehead, pulling it away to inspect the bleeding.

She recognised him. It was Sweetpea; the tall, muscular one of the pair of Toni’s loyal Doberman. Always cursing and yelling and peeling his eyes over the Vixens hungrily.

_We coulda fuckin’ died_

Her blood ran cold, mouth opening vainly.

 **Toni**.

His shirt was torn, covered in dark, streaked patches of what Cheryl assumed to be blood, his face mashed to a pulp.

“We shoulda been fuckin’ _ready_! We shoulda been protected-” He stopped suddenly, his boots catching dryly on the dusty wooden decking beneath him as he turned his bloodied face to Cheryl, squinting as he noticed her unmistakable red hair even in the poor lighting.

The other figure trudged away with a grunt, a hand cradled to its jaw.

“What the _fuck?_ ” Sweetpea barked gruffly, stepping forwards to take a better look. “What are _you_ doing _here_?”

Cheryl didn’t know how he’d intended the words to sound, remembering of course that he had been dragged up with little manners through no fault of his own, but she still took them as hostile.

She squared her shoulders, stepping onto the porch.

“And a good evening to you too, Sweetpea. I don’t need to explain my presence to you.” She clipped, rolling her eyes away from him as she reached for the door.

 **Toni**.

“Hey, wait. Does Tiny know you’re here- hey I said _wait._ ”

Cheryl gritted her teeth, turning around in a swarm of red to send him a frustrated glare.

“No, she doesn’t.”

She turned away from him again and took a step to the door when a large hand gripped into her arm, tugging her backward easily.

“Hey stop.” He ordered, a frown on his face, glancing his eyes nervously into the doorway, “You don’t wanna go in there. Seriously. Just go home and wait for her there.”

Cheryl scoffed. The _audacity_ of this man.

She was _Cheryl fucking Blossom_.

“Don’t tell me what to _do_ , Sweetpea.” She spat, frowning as she tore her arm from him, “I do as I please. And don’t you _ever_ put your filthy mitts on me again without permission you-”

“Cheryl you don’t wanna see her like that.”

Sweetpea’s inclination towards shouting everything that he said was usually startling to Cheryl but the quiet, firm, worried tone to his soft words spoken with such sadness had shaken her more than any bellowed swear word in the cafeteria ever could.

_We coulda fuckin’ died._

**_Everyone you’ve ever loved leaves you, Cheryl._ **

“Go home, Red.”

Cheryl stared at him, watching as his bruised brow wrinkled painfully and noted the soft look in his eyes at the mention of Toni.

Where was her breath? Why couldn’t she feel her hands? Why wouldn’t her legs move?

_We coulda fuckin’ **died**._

**Toni**.

She felt vomit rising in her throat, the escalating thud of her heart pounding in her head as she wrenched the door open with a heave of her body, hands closing into tight fists as she darted her eyes around the smoky bar.

It was empty, messily strewn chairs seating nothing but the heavy stench of stale cigarettes and the ghosts of long-passed patrons. She was blind to its blueprints, the layout foreign to her and disadvantaged in her haste by the unfamiliarity.

**Toni _._**

She thumped her legs across the sticky wooden floor to the bar, spotting a doorway off to the side and glancing over the peeling, dirty paint. The crudely made sign read: Basement.

The rush of blood in her ears was deafening, her chest shaking up and down with her fruitless attempts to keep her breathing under control as she reached out her fingers for the handle.

“Cheryl?”

She jumped, the voice breaking through the swirling in her head as she dropped her hand and turned to see Jughead stepping ungainly towards her. His face was bleeding and his neck was slashed roughly, the cut disappearing beneath his shirt.

**Toni _._**

“Cheryl what are you doing here?” He frowned at her, glancing at the door with wide eyes, “Do _not_ go in there. You don’t wanna know what’s behind that door, you understand?” He raked his panicky gaze over her. “Did you touch that door? Cheryl did you touch it?”

She floundered, embarrassingly. “I… No I-”

“Cheryl are your fingerprints anywhere on that door?” He roared anxiously, his hands reaching up to grip her shoulders.

What the _fuck_ was going on?

“No, I didn’t touch the damn door.” She breathed, placing a hand on his chest to push him back from her.

“Why are you here, Cheryl-”

“Where is she?”

She set her jaw tight, her ears closed off to any other words than those she wanted to hear.

“Cheryl… you don’t want to-”

“Where the hell is Toni, Jughead?” She demanded, her eyes burning into his head as she jutted out her chin fiercely to look at him, two perfect rows of white teeth clamped harshly together.

He dropped his shoulders, pushing the greased strands of his hair beneath his hat.

“She’s not going to be happy about thi-”

“ _Jughead Jones._ ”

He flinched at the snapped warning, looking away from her as he raised a weary arm, bloodied fingers pointing to a door off to her left.

She turned, recognising the stick figure on the door immediately, lewdly large breasts scribbled onto it decades ago with sharpie pen.

The ladies’ room.

 **Toni**.

She bolted across to it, her jacket flying open at her sides as jagged breaths tore from her lips.

She pushed her hand harshly against it, the cheap plasterboard of the door swinging dangerously on its hinges as she shouldered her way through to the bathroom.

In different circumstances it could almost have been comical the way her heels squeaked to a stop on the slippery filth of the linoleum floor. Her legs locked beneath her, her chest paralysed.

Two white electric bulbs settled roughly against the wall. One fixed atop a speckled mirror, above a sink basin, and the other over the oily rectangular stain of a where a mirror had once no doubt been. They spat out a harsh glow, illuminating just enough of the dirty grouted off-white tiles and the lone toilet stall that lay open a meter in front of her for Cheryl to see the small figure hunched crookedly over its bowl, spitting pitifully into it.

Relief flooded her body, tingling along her arms and down to her fingers as they flexed anxiously by her sides.

“TT?”

Pink hair lifted, a tanned hand pushing it backwards over her head as Toni remained down on her haunches, stiffened and refusing to turn around.

“What are you doing here, Cheryl?”

Her voice was cold. Monotone. Her lips sounded as if they had barely moved to form the words which slumped from her mouth, clotted and thick with something congealing. She spat again.

Cheryl took a strained, painful breath.

“TT,” She whispered, unable to move, “What happened?”

Toni sighed, her head slumping down again.

“Fucking Ghoulie ambush.” She slurred, her tongue muffling wetly against her lips. “Job went wrong. Hostages. Casualties. Really fuckin’ bad.”

_We coulda fuckin’ died_

“Toni, please turn around.”

She watched as Toni spat again, her back arching tensely.

“Cheryl I don’t fucking _want_ you here to see this, please go.”

She sounded tired. Defeated. Determined to fight her corner to the last breath but knowing she’d lost before she’d even begun.

“Toni _turn around_.” Cheryl ordered, her voice shaking.

Three hideously loud beats of Cheryl’s heart rang out in her ears as she waited, stock still, before she saw the tiny body in front of her rise unsteadily to its feet, gripping the frame of the stall door for support as Toni finally turned to face her.

Cheryl stumbled backwards, sucking in a weak gasp as she reached out for the grimy lip of the sink next to her to balance herself.

Toni’s face was drenched in red.

From chin to forehead, nearly every inch was matted thickly with browning crimson.

Cheryl had been so used  to seeing Toni like that, growing accustom to covering her sweet, freckled little face with from top to bottom with the bright red stain of her lipstick. Placed tenderly across the skin by loving lips.

But this red, the blood, was too much for her.

Toni’s blood. Pouring sickeningly down her neck from cuts and gashes, a far cry from Cheryl’s kisses, inflicted by hard fists and brass knuckles and knees and boots and bats and chains.

She couldn’t tell where the source was coming from. The front of her hairline knotted and soaked in the stuff, a glistening cut above her brow peeling open as Toni frowned.

Scrapes littered her cheeks and her _lips_. Those perfect, rounded lips that Cheryl had adored since the first _minute_ she’d laid eyes on her were pressed together in pain, the once supple bottom torn open at the edge. One eye was closing slowly, its lid heavy and swollen as Toni fought to keep it up.

Cheryl felt sick.

Tears stung at her eyes.

She couldn’t _breathe._

Her sheltered upbringing may have been emotionally torturous but such violence, such terrible physical ferocity, was beyond her comprehension.

“It’s not as bad as it looks.” Toni croaked, wiping blood from the cuts on her fingers with a ball of tissue. “It’s just a lot of blood. And it’s only my face. I got kicked,” She lifted her ripped shirt to expose a wide boot-tread bruise forming on the soft skin of her ribs, “But I didn’t get stabbed.”

Cheryl supposed that was some consolation. Even if the beautiful face of her girlfriend looked as if it had been flayed to the bone.

At least she was alive.

_We coulda fuckin’ died._

She gaped at her, her breath shuddering as Toni limped out to the sink running her fingers beneath the tap and watching the red swirl down the drain.

“TT…” She sniffed, the back of a shaking hand reaching up to wipe a stray tear from her pale cheek. “Let me help you-”

Toni flinched away from her, staring her hard in the eye through the mirror.

“What the fuck do you know about cleaning up wounds, Cher?”

Her words stung, but Cheryl forgave it.

“Nothing, I suppose.” She acquiesced weakly.

“Yeah, well I know a bunch. I don’t need your help, ok?”

Cheryl watched as Toni wet some tissue, grabbing a bottle of rubbing alcohol from the basin with shaking hands and poured it over the cloth, pressing it to her brow with a sharp hiss.

Cheryl’s heart sank.

“Let me take you to a hospital. We don’t have to tell them how it happened, no one needs to know.” She pleaded, her fingers itching to reach out and touch her back.

Toni scoffed, wiping some blood from her face.

“I don’t have health insurance, Cheryl.”

“Well I can pay for you, Toni. You can’t just-”

“Cheryl why are you _here?_ ”

Cheryl stopped, wincing as she watched Toni rub at her face with a savage harshness. She was clearly in pain and humiliated, years of Toni training herself not to cry working deftly to control her tears. Cheryl’s position as a spectator to that was only adding to the shame.

_There’s nothing to fear here, Cheryl._

**_Take control_.**

She took a slow, silent breath.

_I just couldn’t imagine saying it, JJ._

**_Take control._ **

**_Grow up and tell her how you feel._ **

**_I finally see a future._ **

_Since when have you let **anything** intimidate you, Cheryl Blossom?_

_I’m not **loveless** you know._

“Because I love you.”

**_Bullseye._ **

And there it was. The words were out.

Years of struggling against her feelings, fearing the worst, knowing she could _feel_ but never being able to let it out. All released in a shallow breath of _those 3 words_. Not the circumstances in which she’d ever imagined she would say them, but then what about her time with Toni had ever done anything but surpass her expectations?

“I love you, TT.”

_Control._

She waited with baited breath, training her eyes to the mirror in the hope of catching Toni’s gaze should she lift her head.

Toni had frozen in place, dropping her stained tissue into the sink.

_There’s nothing to be afraid of here, Cheryl._

**_You’re in control._ **

She swallowed thickly as Toni slowly turned to face her, her eyes wide and unreadable.

“Don’t…” Toni whispered, her words a warning. “Don’t you say that now just because of this.” She pointed a small finger to her face, red scuffs swelling at the knuckles. Her eyes softening sadly, “please, Cheryl.”

Cheryl’s brow creased lightly, a watery smile tilting at her lips. She flicked her eyes over Toni’s face, the skin swiped messily clean of blood to expose her freckles, light bruises beginning to form.

She shook her head lightly.

“I love you.” She repeated stepping forward, thankful that Toni didn’t back away. “I do. I mean it.”

_I only wanna hear it when you **mean** it._

She kept her voice to a hushed whisper, her eyes never leaving Toni’s.

“I love you, TT. I know I do. I’ve felt this feeling before. I know what it is. I look at you, TT, and my chest…” she reached for Toni’s battered little hand and took it carefully in her own, placing it over her heart, “…it literally hurts. It aches.” She let out a tearful chuckle. “I think about you constantly. I think about your face and your hair and your body. I think about what you’re thinking. What you’re wearing, what you’re doing. If you’re thinking about me.”

She lifted the tanned fingers to her mouth and pecked at the cuts soothingly.

“I think about a future with you. I think about wanting to see you every day. I think about how I simply couldn’t bear _not_ to. I feel it, TT. Never this strongly before. Sound familiar?”

She dared to break a small grin across her face as Toni’s tired eyes softened, nodding her head.

“I’m in love with you.”

She dropped Toni’s hand to place her palms gently either side of Toni’s head, leaning down to press the softest, chaste kiss to a small patch of unharmed skin.

She lingered her lips there, a relieved sigh bristling out of her nose to tickle Toni’s hair.

“I love you.” She whispered against the skin, pulling back slowly.

Toni looked up at her, her throat bobbing, most likely overwhelmed, before pushing her face into Cheryl’s neck and tugging her into a desperate, crushing hug.

Cheryl smiled, resting her cheek against the top of her head, her long arms curling familiarly around her body.

Security.

Stability.

“Do you really mean that?” Came a muffled croak from her shoulder.

Cheryl’s smile grew, stretching widely across her face as she mirrored the same answer to the same question asked to her weeks ago, as they’d lain wrapped up together in the expensive sheets of her bed.

“Utterly.”

 

**_I did it, JJ._ **

**_I finally did it._ **

 


	31. Gats.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> back again. this is angsty. Trigger warning for some mentions of blood/violence but nothing much and not detailed descriptions.I can't wait for the barrage in the comments about this one hahahaha. let me know what you think. enjoy, guys.

 

 

“Wait, Cheryl, I’m confused. What were the First and Second Rights?”

“What on earth are you talking about, Archie?”

“If _this_ was the Third Right in Germany. What were the first two?”

“What? Good _god_ , Archie. _Reich_. It was the Third _Reich_.”

“Oh, I thought Mr Dullard was saying **right**.”

“He clearly _wasn’t_ , but regardless it’s written both in your textbook and on the _board_.”

Cheryl rolled her eyes as she flipped the page in her book deftly with one hand, glancing sideways at Archie as he sat with his long legs strewn haphazardly beneath the small desk they were sharing, his chair dragged awkwardly close to hers from across the room.

Mr Dullard had not quite given up on life it seemed, but had clearly given up on teaching - at least for today - as he stood at the back of the classroom gazing longingly out of an open window at the sunshine, a pencil perched delicately balanced, close to his mouth, between his first and middle finger. No doubt he was wishing to be basking in the rays, reading a good book and smoking a cigarette. Or at least smoking _something_. He’d allocated partner work for the period with a dismissive wave of his hand, instructing them to sit and work on pages 34 through to 40. Cheryl had read them 2 months ago and was hoping to be able to choose Toni as her partner and sit and stare at her face for 45 minutes, but, alas, fate had reared its ugly head and whispered over Dullard’s shoulder to convince him to allocate the pairs himself.

So, she was stuck here with _Archie Andrews_.

She watched, with a mild interest akin to someone peering in at the gorilla enclosure at the zoo, as he frowned, crossing out his sentence messily in his book before glancing across the room. His expression seemed to soften slowly, his handsome mouth pressing into a concerned line as he moved his head closer to Cheryl’s.

“Toni’s face seems like it’s healing up pretty well.” He murmured softly, nodding to the girl adjacent to them, “That’s good.”

Cheryl swallowed, glancing down at her page.

_We coulda fuckin’ died_.

“Yes. She knows how to take care of herself very well.”

She picked up her pen to write an asinine note onto her page distractedly.

Archie paused, watching her.

“I know you probably don’t want to talk about it.”

Cheryl scoffed.

“Finally, Archie. Showing some insight I see.”

She hadn’t meant to snap at him, she was supposed to be in control of the poisonous side of her tongue these days. But the flashes of blood and cuts and winces and hisses and waking up to red stains on the pillow and watching Toni hold back tears as she cleaned her cuts was gripping tightly at her stomach and making it hard to breathe.

It had been just over a week since that _awful_ night and Cheryl was hoping that her memory of it would fade easily along with Toni’s injuries themselves.

She lifted her head to look at Toni, a smile drifting onto her face.

She _was_ healing well, thank _god_. Cheryl had made sure to press a soft kiss to each of her wounds every morning before school, ghosting her fingertips lightly over the scabs on her face, knowing they’d leave scars and realising, finally, that that was where all the _others_ she’d noticed on her little body must have come from.

She’d insisted that Toni cover at least the bruises with makeup. They sat patchily over her skin like sickening, yellowing pools of poison seeping out across her face and darkening the skin under her left eye. If only for the fact that Cheryl wouldn’t have to look at them. But Toni had refused. She wore her wounds with the same pride as she did her leather jacket, covering them would be admitting shame. Plus, as she’d rightly pointed out to Cheryl, with Sweetpea, Fangs, Jughead and the other Serpents at the school all carrying beaten faces, there was no need. Everyone knew _something_ had gone down.

She swallowed, turning back to her book.

“What happened with them?” Archie whispered, the sleeve of his Varsity jacket brushing dryly against his page as he turned to ensure Dullard wasn’t watching them, “I asked Jug but he wouldn’t say anything. Just shrugged at me and said ‘ _Ghoulies_ ’. But I’ve heard about them getting in fights with the Serpents before and it’s never been this bad. And usually they don’t mind talking about it but _no one_ will say _anything_. It’s weird, Cheryl. Did you know Fangs Fogarty got _stabbed_? Only in the arm but I overheard him talking to that other one, Sweetpea, in the bathroom and he said they were aiming for his _heart_. That’s crazy.”

Cheryl gripped her fingers into the wood of her desk, training her eyes to the neat handwriting on her page.

“I mean he could’ve _died_ , Cheryl.”

_We coulda fuckin’ **died**_ **.**

She clenched her teeth together, closing her eyes and hoping the sound of blood hitting the toilet bowl would leave her head.

“Did Toni say anything to you about what happened? Did you ask her about it or anyt-”

“No.” Cheryl snapped, her voice a vicious whisper, “No she did not, Archie. I don’t know what happened. I have nothing to tell you. I _don’t **know**_. Now would you please _stop_ your infernal questions and _do your work_.”

She opened her eyes, taking a glance at pink hair, and felt her shaking chest ease.

_You’re in control._

Archie turned away.

“I apologise, Archie. That was unnecessarily punitive of me, I didn’t-”

“ ** _Forsythe Pendleton Jones III to the principal’s office._** _”_

Cheryl frowned as the announcement rang out in the still of the classroom, turning to glance at an equally baffled Archie.

“What’s Jughead don-”

“Shush, Archie, it’s still going.”

“... ** _Fogarty to the principal’s office.”_**

Cheryl flicked her eyes to Toni as she perked her head up from her book, a worried frown on her splintered brow.

“Fangs too, what-.”

“Archie _hush_.”

“… **_and Antoinette Topaz to the principal’s office._** ”

Cheryl unfurled her legs beneath her desk as she bolted to attention, eyes boring into the back of Toni’s head as she turned to meet Cheryl’s gaze.

What.

“ ** _Thank you, students and faculty. That is all._** _”_

Toni wasn’t a trouble maker at school, her grades were up, her attendance was perfect. It couldn’t be a coincidence that it was solely _Serpents_ being called to the office.

Cheryl frowned, shifting anxiously in her seat as she watched Toni’s brain ticking over, most likely thinking along the same lines as she.

“Yeah fine, Topaz. Off you go.” Mr Dullard grunted apathetically from behind.

Toni stood slowly, flipping the back page of her book closed and grabbing her sweater from the seat of her chair. She gave Cheryl one last glance before scuffing her feet to the door and closing it shut with a click.

_Everyone you’ve ever loved leaves you, Cheryl._

“Alright, rubberneckers, back to work.”

Cheryl glanced at the clock, noting the time Toni had left, and returned her gaze to the door, her fingers gripping worriedly at her pen.

“You too, Miss Blossom, eyes down.”

 

 

Ten minutes had ticked by, followed by twenty, followed by forty. Toni still had not returned. Cheryl had fidgeted restlessly throughout the remainder of the lesson, looking to the clock with every minute that passed, and when the bell had finally, _mercifully_ , rang out to signal lunch she’d been out of her seat like a shot. She had muttered her goodbyes to Archie and moved to gather Toni’s belongings before racing out of the room to wait outside the principal’s office.

She could hear the stern murmurings of Principal Weatherbee’s voice vibrating through the door and stared down at her feet as she paced outside, her arms crossed tensely over her chest.

_Everyone you’ve ever loved leaves you._

She looked up as the door burst open, Sweetpea bounding out of it in much the same way he had done a week prior at the Wyrm, only this time he didn’t seem to notice her, striding oafishly down the hallway hissing curse words as Fangs jogged after him to catch up. Jughead slinked out soon after, giving her a vacant stare and nodding at her solemnly as he took off in the opposite direction, pulling his hat from his head to wring it anxiously in his hands. She heard little feet shuffling towards her, looking up to see Toni pushing pink hair back from her damaged face.

Cheryl held up her bag, stepping forward.

“I collected your things for you. I wasn’t sure which of the pens on your desk were yours or Ethel’s so I took them all just in case.” She offered Toni a small smile, watching as she took her bag.

“Thanks, Cher.”

She examined her face for a moment in silence.

“So, what did Weatherbee say to you all?”

She saw Toni swallow thickly, glancing around at the empty hallway before meeting her gaze.

“The police are sniffing around, Cher.”

Cheryl’s back stiffened, a lump forming in her throat. Toni continued.

“They raided the Wyrm last night apparently, thank god I wasn’t there…”

Cheryl thought back to the two of them curled up beneath a thin blanket, laying spooned together on the cushions of Thistlehouse’s sitting room bay window and watching the summer rain sheet across the night sky.

Thank god indeed.

“They found the Ghoulie hostages we had in the basement, one was beat up so bad I saw him just spitting his fucking teeth out onto the ground, Cher, and there was just blood everywhere and I don’t think they’re gonna be able to save his eyes.” Cheryl noted the thin tinge of disgust in Toni’s words and swallowed, perturbed. “So they found that, plus all the fucking gats and knives, plus stacks of cash and also along with…” She hesitated, lowering her voice, “Along with a shit ton of drugs but you _cannot_ tell anyone I told you that do you understand, Cher? They’ll kill me.”

Cheryl nodded earnestly, fear burning at her chest.

“What is ‘gats’ slang for?”

“ _Guns_ , Cheryl.”

Her chest burned harder.

“So then when we all rocked up to school last week with beat up faces after Sheriff Keller received a call about a gang fight, it all fucking came together so easy for them and they notified Weatherbee this morning that we’re probably involved.”

Toni heaved a breath as she finished, reaching up a hand and balling it into a fist to rub fretfully at her swollen eye.

Cheryl winced, batting it away gently.

“So, Ok.” Cheryl breathed, slipping her fingers gently beneath the scooped neck of Toni’s top and massaging her hand into her shoulder. “What does this mean, TT?”

Toni nibbled at her lip, pulling Cheryl’s attention to it.

“Don’t do that, Toni. You’ll open the cut.”

Toni stopped, sighing.

“It could mean a lot of things, Cheryl. It could mean that if that Ghoulie dies from his injuries, we’re all implicated in a _murder_ and we’ll get time for just _being_ there by law of joint enterprise,”

Cheryl’s blood ran cold.

“But even if he doesn’t, we have to rely on the fact that the Ghoulies probably won’t talk, out of hatred for the pigs - sorry, the _police –_ ” She corrected, shaking her head and looking at Cheryl with soft eyes, “and to cover their own asses. But then there’s the drugs and the cash and the weapons, Cher. One of the older Serpents is probably gonna have to take the wrap and go down for it, most likely Bernie or maybe Tall Boy he’s usually the one to do that.” She was oddly calm, her raspy voice steady and low as she recited the prognosis with a worryingly well-practised ease, “and our DNA can put us there but it’s only circumstantial because we’re there _every day_ and I fucking work there and we don’t have cameras to put us there with a time signature but what if some fucking _eye witnesses_ come forward or some shit, I’m a girl who’s 5 feet 2 with pink hair, Cheryl, they’re gonna remember me.”

Cheryl brushed her other hand across Toni’s cheek softly.

“It’s ok, TT.” She murmured gently, trying to sound more certain in her words than she truly felt, “That all sounds rather good surely? And you can’t worry about something that hasn’t happened yet. I‘m not particularly well versed in these things but it seems as if perhaps it won’t even affect you-”

“-No but it _will_ affect me, Cheryl. Indirectly.” Toni interrupted softly, a small, scabbed hand reaching to grip the front of Cheryl’s shirt.

“We could all be looking at expulsion. Fucking permanent record, college ruining shit. This is just the fucking push my grandpa has been looking for. He’s been wanting me out of that _shitty_ fucking trailer park ever since shit starting getting real and he told me that he wants to move us both the fuck out of Riverdale and go live a better life and get a fresh start in Nevada. He has friends there with a ranch. And I managed to convince him out of it when Southside High closed down and got him to hold out a little longer to let me see if I liked it here but _this_ , Cher. I think this is gonna do it.”

Cheryl’s hands dropped slowly.

_Everyone you’ve ever loved leaves you, Cheryl._

_‘Try being deviant almost **3000 miles away.** ’_

No.

No she couldn’t.

**_‘Almost 3000 miles away.’_ **

No she _couldn’t_ go.

Toni couldn’t leave.

_Everyone you’ve ever loved leaves you, Cheryl._

Not now. No, not fucking now. Not after everything.

**_‘I love you, Cheryl_.’**

She’d worked too damn hard for this.

She’d taken _control_.

No, not now. Not when she **_finally did it, JJ_** _._

Her third scuff…

… she’d wanted it to be her **last**.

“Cheryl?”

She blinked, feeling desperately panicked, looking down at Toni as one of her small hands came up to stroke red hair behind Cheryl’s ear.

“But, what about the Serpents? You said they were your family.”

Toni’s eyes softened.

“It’s not about the Serpents, Cher. He’s a serpent and I’ll always be one too wherever we are; _a serpent never sheds its skin_. It’s about that fucking trailer park, Cheryl. It’s just a steaming pile of hot shit. I mean you’ve seen it. There’s too much crime and not enough money. It’s dangerous. It’s so toxic there. We can’t afford to move anywhere else here and with an opportunity like that across the country he sees it as our way out. He wants me out of it, he’s seen it change and he doesn’t like it and if I get kicked out of school, this is just what he needs to make up his mind.”

Cheryl shook her head.

“But surely your grandpa can go by himself? Can you not stay with your uncle? I thought you lived with him?”

“Cher, it’d still be Sunnyside. And I _barely_ live with him as it is. Plus…” Toni sighed, pressing her lips together. “…he’s my grandpa. I want him to be happy. He’s pretty much all I have, Cher.”

Cheryl frowned, tears threatening at her eyes.

“And what about me? You have me.”

Toni looked pained, pressing her hands to either side of Cheryl’s face and pulling it towards her own. She tilted her head slightly to place a gentle, soothing kiss to Cheryl’s lips, tugging a soft pressure to them as she pulled back slowly.

Cheryl’s heart ached.

**_Almost 3000 miles away._ **

“I know, Cher,” She whispered, searching Cheryl’s eyes, “I know I do.”

_Everyone you’ve ever loved leaves you, Cheryl._

**_Take control._ **

 

 


	32. Wheat Fields.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there. I bashed this one out when I arrived home from work this evening and boy was it draining. All I'm going to say is just be chill hahah and have faith in me. That is all. Thanks so much again for reading and commenting and sticking with this, it's fucking amazing. Enjoy!

 

 

The rough tickle of wheat ears reached out from the ground, bowing in the warm summer breeze to kiss themselves like worshiping peasants to the regal palms of Cheryl’s hands. She danced her fingers over their heads, her bare knees brushing lightly against the stems as they stood, seasonably high and proud, engulfing her to her waist.

The air was warm, pressing closely to her bare face and freeing it of the distracting confines of her hair as she smiled lightly, eyes squinted in the hot sun as it illuminated the expanse of agricultural abundance before her, breathing a soft sigh in through her nose and inhaling the smell of warm toast.

Toni was standing away from her, her precious camera poised expertly to her face as she snapped some frames of the restless beige field set strikingly against the rich blue of the sky. She had such an eye for beauty, even in unconventionality. For the simple. Unpretentious and picture perfect, the stark reality of true, _natural_ life, stripped back to its honest authenticity.   _Art_. So like her.

Cheryl loved that.

She watched as Toni lowered her camera slowly, peering out at the view for a moment to appreciate it unbridled from the lens and drifted her eyes over her back as her pink hair shone around it in the sun.

This was it.

This was it for her.

She may be young; she may have ambitions outside of this toxic town, she may have battled through too much for such a tender age and yet not really have lived at all, but _this_.

This was _it_.

**_I did it, JJ._ **

She couldn’t bear to lose it.

Toni turned then, beaming a bright smile at her and raised her camera again, snapping a quick photo of Cheryl as she stared back at her.

“Dammit, TT. What have I told you about candids?”

She rolled her eyes as Toni made her way over, trampling wheat crops into the ground as she pulled her little legs up determinedly with each step, coming to rest in front of Cheryl.

Her freckles were multiplying in the sun over the past few weeks and each new addition made Cheryl’s heart patter, longing to reach down and kiss them.

“You looked beautiful, Cher.” She said casually, dropping her camera to hang against her chest as she reached across to take one of Cheryl’s hands in hers, her fingers warm and inviting.

They stood, side by side, sticking out together in a field too small to shield them from the rest of the world, clinging to each other for guidance.

Toni took a step forward, tugging Cheryl with her.

“Riverdale is so beautiful in the summer,” Toni mused softly, face screwed against the harshness of the sun’s rays.

Cheryl nodded, watching her feet carve a path in the thatch.

“It’s beautiful all year round I think.”

Toni’s turn to nod this time, turning her head to gaze behind them, their arms stretching loosely as they parted somewhat.

“I guess so. No other reason for people to stay is there?”

Cheryl tensed, her stomach dropping uncomfortably as she faltered in her steps for a moment.

 **_Almost 3000 miles away_ ** _._

“And although winter might be beautiful in a nice, warm mansion, it’s sure as hell no fun in a fucking trailer.”

Toni chuckled at her words but Cheryl couldn’t bring herself to find the humour in them.

That _fucking trailer_ was the reason she might lose the one thing she cared most about it the world.

They walked a little further, Toni pulling Cheryl’s arm behind her as she kept a slower pace.

She heard the click of a camera shutter over her shoulder and smiled.

“TT…”

“Hey, I can take photos of whatever I want.”

Cheryl relented, laughing softly to herself.

God, this was _it_.

“I love you, Cheryl.”

Her heart flipped in her chest.

She heard the hint of smile through which the words had passed and closed her eyes, trying to commit them to memory. How they sounded murmured softly to her, casually, second nature to them both now. She tried to memorize the prickle they induced down her neck as they reached her ears, _in person_. Not read through a text or heard over the phone or, God forbid maybe one day, not heard at all.

She opened her eyes, a slow breath leaving her nose.

“I love you too.”

She felt a soft squeeze to her hand and refrained from glancing back at her. If she saw her face. Saw that besotted, happy little smile. So secure and satisfied. If she saw _that look_. She wouldn’t be able to take it. She wouldn’t be able to see anything else.

They walked in silence for a while, Toni swinging their arms between them lazily as they bumped against each other on the uneven ground.

“I’ve been emancipated.”

Cheryl’s arm tugged stiffly behind her as she felt Toni come to an abrupt halt.

“What?”

She turned, her chest warming from more than just sun as she flicked her eyes over Toni’s concerned frown.

“From my mother, TT. I’m not forcing her out of Thistlehouse, I will allow her to live there if she chooses to do so, or anywhere else on the estate. But I’m taking control of my fortune, my stake in the company and my future. I’m naming Nana Rose as my legal guardian and I’m taking control.”

Toni’s face broke into a small smile for a just a moment, pride baking off her like the heat, before her frown returned, rubbing her thumb gently over Cheryl’s pale knuckles.

“Well yeah, Cheryl. I assumed all that,” her little smile was back, “But, doesn’t that stuff take a while? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Cheryl pressed her lips together, the powdery tickle of grain dust wrinkling her nose.

“I think it’s fair to say you’ve been rather stressed, TT. I didn’t want to add to it.”

She watched Toni’s face soften.

The Ghoulie from the basement had survived, despite his permanent mutilations, and, just as Toni had forecast, the abducted pair had kept their lips sealed from the police, inviting no further investigation and refusing to press charges of any kind. Equally, also as Toni had predicted, an older serpent had taken the fall for the contraband stash and the gang seemed to be reasonably in the clear by the skin of their teeth. Even the enquiry into the brawl had met no definite conclusions, the only evidence of it having happened at all being the faded marks upon their faces.

Legally, they were off the hook.

All that remained to be seen was the reaction from the school and, consequently, the fate of Toni’s residence in Riverdale.

From start to end, it had all taken place over 12 days of agonising wait and Toni had coped beautifully under the circumstances, ever the brave little soldier. Cheryl hadn’t wanted to over-tip that balance.

“Shit, Cher. I’m sorry.” She whispered, glancing down at their joined hands, “Have I been taking it out on you? I didn’t mean to, you should’ve said something I-”

“TT, no.” Cheryl chuckled. This girl, my god. Did she ever think of herself? “You haven’t done anything. You’ve been so thoroughly, wonderfully courageous and kept together, I couldn’t bring myself to offload my business onto you.”

“Cheryl, your business is never too much for me. Don’t forget that.”

Her words were quiet and firm, set with a frown, a warning reminder to Cheryl should her control ever start to wane.

Cheryl smiled.

“Well thank you, Toni. But it’s all in order now. The paperwork was finalized this morning.”

Toni stepped forward, bringing both of Cheryl’s hands to her mouth and pressing a soft kiss to the knuckles. She dropped them, looking Cheryl in the eyes as she took her face in her little hands and pulled her down to press a lingering peck to her lips. She held them together for a moment before pulling away slightly, her nose brushing Cheryl’s as she turned her head to the other side and pressed three more kisses, each more compelling than the last, to her mouth. Cheryl felt thumbs stroke her rouging cheeks, a forehead pressed to hers.

“I’m so proud of you.” She heard Toni whisper, soft lips pushing against her cheek. “Who’s in control now, Cheryl?” she prompted tenderly.

Cheryl’s lips stretched into a smile, her hands reaching out for the sides of Toni’s shirt to bring her closer.

“I am.” She replied.

“Damn right you are, Cher.”

God, this was definitely _it_.

Cheryl opened her eyes, peeling them over Toni’s face one last time before pulling away from her, re-joining their hands as they walked.

“Did the Ghoulie ever regain his sight?” Cheryl asked softly, looking out at the line of trees growing ever closer to them.

She glanced at Toni when she received no response, finding her deep in thought, a sickly look paling her skin despite its seasonal bronzing. She shook her head solemnly.

Cheryl squeezed her hand, turning away.

“You know I didn’t participate in any of that don’t you, Cher?”

The words were so quiet Cheryl had barely heard them over the rustle of wheat in the wind. She frowned, looking to Toni with soft eyes.

“Toni I don’t judge anything about your responsibilities with the Serpents-”

“No, Cheryl, it’s important to me that you know I didn’t.”

Cheryl stopped, turning her body around to face her.

Toni looked sick to her stomach.

“TT?”

Pink hair bristled as she shook her head, the memories of many disturbing nights flicking across her eyes as she stared unseeing at the ground.

“The violence, Cher. I hate it.” She murmured, swallowing.

Cheryl’s chest ached.

“I _hate_ it, Cheryl. Fighting is bad enough, but sometimes you have to step up and defend yourself. And carrying our knives, that’s all just for show. A little added sense of security but really just intimidation.” She brought her gaze to Cheryl’s. “But _that_. The beatings. It’s torture. Some of the things I’ve seen them do, Cher. The _violence_ , god I hate it. It never used to be like that. When my grandpa was in charge, it was about protection. It was about protecting our land and each other. About being a _family_.” She bit her lip, the fresh scar shining in the sunlight. “His screams. I’ve heard so many like that. And it’s not the screams that worry me, Cher, it’s the fact that they _don’t_ that worries me.”

Cheryl’s throat felt tight as reached out to run her hands soothingly up and down Toni’s arms.

Toni sighed.

“I don’t _have_ to get involved. They don’t force us. I’m worried about Sweetpea because he seems more and more interested in that side of it. I don’t want that for him.” She pressed her lips together. “I can deal with it. I can deal with knowing it happens. I don’t like it but I can deal with it. I just need you to know I’m not like that. And I don’t think it’s right.”

Cheryl’s heart broke.

The girl loved flowers and taking photographs. She touched Cheryl with such soft hands and pressed tender kisses to her sleeping face. She packed toys and food for children and the elderly at Christmas time, she _always_ saved the last of her milkshake for Cheryl and she made sure to wait in the parking lot after school, every damn day, to feed a straggly stray cat that lived behind the dumpsters. She was brave and strong and independent minded, she had morals and beliefs and stood up for those she loved and, yes, she talked with her fists when she needed to but _a torturer_? Savage and cruel?

Never.

“I don’t think that about you, TT. I never could.”

Toni sighed, relieved.

“I don’t like that it affects you like this though.”

Cheryl pulled Toni into her body, wrapping her arms around her slim back and crushing her to her chest, clenching her grip to grasp her petite frame tighter.

“It’s ok, Cher. I’m ok with it, I promise.”

Cheryl didn’t believe her, pressing her cheek against pink hair.

“You’re too good, Toni.” She whispered, closing her eyes. Wasn’t that just the fucking truth of it all? “You’re too damn good.”

 

 

 

Cheryl frowned as she lifted her head from her breakfast, placing her teacup down onto its saucer with a neat click.

She paused, ears perked, and flinched as a heavy thudding sounded out for a second time against the wood of the back door.

Flicking her eyes to the clock she frowned harder, heaving a sigh.

“I swear, mother.” She muttered to herself, pushing her chair from the table, “If this is one of your gentleman callers.” She stood, strutting across the kitchen tiles, her arms swinging elegantly by her sides, and pulled back the bolt of the lock, wrenching open the door.

Her scowl dissipated instantly, shoulders relaxing into a slump.

“Toni?”

Cheryl grinned at her, pushing the door open wider with a heave of her arm and stepped backwards, draping her eyes over Toni’s body.

“What a pleasant surprise before school, come in.”

Toni said nothing, a worried frown pinching at her brow as she lifted her boot over the threshold.

Cheryl closed the door behind her with a hollow thud.

“Did you sleep well?” she murmured softly, biting her lip as her smile slipped into a smirk and sliding her pale fingers over Toni’s hips to grip them sumptuously into her backside with a quiet grunt. “You look so pretty this morning. Would you like me to prepare you some breakfast?” She drifted her lips along Toni’s neck, pecking softly along the skin until she reached her mouth. Toni, however, remained stiff in her arms, her lips unresponsive as Cheryl pressed a slow kiss to them.

Cheryl frowned.

“TT, are you ok?”

She watched as Toni swallowed hard, drawing back to see her stuff a small hand into her serpent jacket pocket and pull out an envelope, the top torn open jaggedly.

Her eyes never left Cheryl’s face, wide and glistening.

“What’s this, Toni?”

Panic started to settle in Cheryl’s gut, her neck feeling hot.

Toni, again, said nothing, passing her the letter reluctantly.

“Toni, what _is_ this?”

“Just read it, Cher.”

Her voice was quiet, hoarse, exhausted with strain.

What the fuck was going on?

Cheryl glanced worriedly at Toni, snatching the envelope from her hand, and pulled the letter free with a trembling breath. She spread open the crisp folds of the paper, recognising the Riverdale High letterhead immediately and felt her stomach drop, flitting her eyes anxiously across the page.

‘… **regret to inform you...’**

Oh god.

**‘… in light of recent events…’**

Oh no. No please.

**‘…anti-social behaviour in direct conflict with school beliefs….’**

_Everyone you’ve ever loved leaves you, Cheryl._

**‘…enforce a 2 week expulsion…’**

Cheryl’s breath left her chest, a hollow weight pushing heavily down upon it.

No.

No it couldn’t be.

_**Almost 3000 miles away** _

She lowered the paper with shaking hands, tears springing at her eyes.

“Does this mean…?”

She looked up to see Toni, a wounded tension of pure hurt clamping at her freckled face, nodding her head.

“Nevada.” She whispered, a sickening finality to her words.

A single tear rolled down Cheryl’s cheek.

She couldn’t breathe.

She couldn’t _breathe_.

White noise and dread clawed at her, whipping harshly at her legs like wheat stems to bring her down into the thick, suffocating sea of beige, drowning her out and clinging to her waist to hold her back as Toni disappeared into the trees.

The ache in her chest was paralyzing, fingers rattling dryly against paper as they shook.

_Everyone you’ve ever loved leaves you, Cheryl._

“TT, I-”

“Don’t.” Toni interrupted, sucking in a shuddering breath, her wet eyes working expertly to contain her tears, “Please, Cher. There’s nothing we can do. Just… don’t waste anymore words. Time is precious now.”

Cheryl let out a quiet sob, pondering sadly that Toni’s words would sound quite beautiful were they not so hideously tragic.

Toni looked away, her jaw clenching tightly.

Cheryl’s third scuff was being polished away in front of her very eyes.

_But **why**? This was supposed to be **it**._

_She was free of her mother, she was free of her doubts, **why now?**_

_**Why Toni?** _

She swiped at her wet cheeks hurriedly.

“I love you, Cheryl. That’s not gonna change.”

“Stop.” Cheryl choked. She couldn’t hear that. She simply couldn’t hear it. She couldn’t be reminded of all she would lose. Her breathing sped as more tears fell, grasping desperately to the letter in her hand to have something _anything_ solid to hold on to.

_Take control, Cheryl._

_**Take control.** _

She threw her arms around Toni, bringing her in tightly and buried her face into pink hair, her heart thudding loudly in her ears.

“Cher,”

“No. No, Toni. I’m going to fix this.” She whispered. “No more loss.”

_**Hold on to her, little bird** **.** _

_**Take control, Cheryl** _

_**Take control.** _

 


	33. Simply A Teacher.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyyy, 'sup mofos. Little Easter egg for you all, the wheat field in the last chapter was a metaphor for Riverdale, its ties to keeping Cheryl there, Toni's ability to trample her way out - possibly lead Cheryl out with her - and their impending (but still only potential) split. Points to whoever picked up on that, you're all too damn smart for me. Anyway, this one was fucking exhausting to write but I think it'll be well received. Then again, what the fuck do I know? Big lead up to things to come, enjoy.  
> Edit: Guys I was going to keep it as a surprise, but I’m currently 4000 words deep into a new fic. Scuff will remain the priority until it’s done and the new one is still very much in the works, i’m not sure of length or trajectory but it’s AU and that’s literally all i’m saying. PS - it’s not the Scuff sequel which I’ve been thinking about for a while but still might not getting around to writing so stay tuned. Peace.

 

 

Cheryl had strutted down the silent halls of Riverdale High, her aloof, laissez-faire expression belying the chaotic turmoil in her head. It had only been a few days since she’d plunged herself into the icy depths of Sweetwater River, lips puckered and willing to receive the coveted release of the Angel of Death’s kiss.

And, frankly, she had not been OK.

Jason was still dead, her father was still responsible, and also ___dead_ , her mother was still a monster ruling her life with an iron fist and no one but Veronica had paid her any time at all to simply even ask how she had been.

She had **not** been OK.

On top of all that, she’d heard whisperings around the school that the filthy rabble of Southside trash had been rumoured to be integrating into her school in the upcoming months if the closure of Southside High was finalised. Her school. _Her_ school. The only place in the world where she exhibited any form of control. She had the River Vixens and she had her GPA and she had malevolent dictation over the delicate sinews of social position, the true puppeteer to networks of popularity. The school her parents had attended. The school that JJ had loved so much. The school to which her family had been majority benefactors since its very opening, providing countless injections of priceless funding year after year. The place wouldn’t even be open if not for The Blossoms. And it had potentially been preparing to betray her. Opening its doors to allow Serpents to slither their ramshackle, spineless bodies along the hallways, dirtying both the floors and the reputation. They’d drop in the college acceptance league tables. They’d reduce the teaching hours to make room for the necessary _discipline_ time. They’d bring nothing but depravity.

Cheryl, truly, had not been OK.

The clicking of her heels had come to an abrupt stop as she’d rounded the doorway of the classroom set aside for the orchestration of ‘The Blue and Gold’ and she had sighed, leaning her hand against the door frame as she’d peeled her eyes over the disheveled form of Jughead Jones.

He had been hunched over his laptop, eyes fiercely focused and cloaked by a deep frown, his fingers whirring ceaselessly over the keys.

“Jones.” She’d quipped dismissively, pressing her lips together.

He had flinched, bending the screen of his computer downwards cautiously as he’d looked up at her. His face had softened instantly.

Cheryl had hated it.

The sympathy. The pity. He’d known what she’d been through, he’d seen her plummet through the ice and he’d known it was all still inside her head and it was too much, too vulnerable, too powerless.

She’d _hated_ it.

“Cheryl.” He’d said softly, his expression unsure of how to present itself. “Did you need something?”

Cheryl had rolled her eyes, gripping the doorway.

“I was looking for Betty. River Vixens business. I thought  I would stop by to try to speak to her in person if I could. Clearly she’s not here.” She’d moved to push herself from the doorframe, turning her head to leave when his voice had broken out to stop her.

“Wait, Cheryl.”

She’d swallowed, eyes nervous, turning to look at him.

He’d looked sad.

“Are you… Ok?” He’d asked weakly, clearly knowing his question sounded redundant given her mental state just days ago but still managing to sound sincere.

She’d flicked her eyes over his concerned face, pressing her lips into a false smile.

“I’m fine.” She’d clipped, not overtly sarcastic but unfortunately aware that Jughead was astute enough to see the lie her words. “In fact,” she’d clenched her teeth, “I’m _amazing_.”

He’d frowned, drifting his eyes over the floor.

“Yeah… I can only imagine.” He’d swallowed then, turning back to face his laptop. “Oh, hey. Do you wanna see what I’m working on? It’s an exposure piece on Principal Weatherbee.”

He’d lifted his screen upright once again and glanced at her with eager eyes, beckoning her to him with a large hand.

She’d never even considered the notion of actually wanting to spend time in his company, let alone take interest in his work, but something in his attempt to include her had thawed her defenses somewhat.

He had been reaching out to her. Just as Archie had through the ice. And whether it had simply been through sympathy and pity, Cheryl had decided to latch on and take it.

“Not in the least.” She’d drawled, straightening her back as she’d stepped slowly over to him, coming to rest at the side of his chair, “But Sun Tzu did say, ‘if _you _know_  yourself but not the  _enemy_ , for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat_,’ plus, I am known to trade in secrets.”

Jughead had turned to look at her, a dark eyebrow raised in query.

“You’ve read ‘The Art of War’, Cheryl?”

Cheryl had given him a pointed look. Silly boy.

“Does that _really_ shock you, Jughead?”

He had chuckled, his crooked smile creeping over his thin cheeks as he’d turned back to look at his screen.

“I guess not.”

She’d followed his eyes, catching herself in the reflection of it. She looked haggard. Dark eyes and hollow cheeks and make up plastered liberally over the evidence of her sorrow to hide it all away.

She really had not been OK.

“Weatherbee’s soliciting prostitutes I assume?”

Jughead had laughed again, his signature hat shifting slightly as he shook his head.

“What the fuck, Cheryl? No, look.” He had pointed to his screen, his face now animated with an impassioned focus. “He’s been taking _bribes_. Look, this is the school’s budget sheet for last semester. Look at the net incomes. There’s the Federal Government allowance, there’s the donations from private enterprise.” _Her_ family, “There’s charitable fundraising contributions but, look, _here_.” He had moved closer to his computer, tapping it keenly with his finger, “thirty _thousand_ dollars. Entered under ‘miscellaneous tax refunding.’ _Thirty thousand_.” He’d glanced at Cheryl with a suspicious frown, clicking hurriedly at his mousepad.

“Thirty thousand is hardly _a lot_.” Cheryl had scoffed, disguising her curiosity.

“Maybe not for _you_ , Cheryl. But I checked it against the school tax records and there _was_ no refund given that month. In fact the previous refund had been a whole year prior. And it was only _two_ thousand dollars.” He’d pushed his hair from his eyes excitedly. “So I took a look at the school purchases list and _two days_ after this random thirty thousand appears, Weatherbee bought himself a new desk, new chair, new computer and new goddamn _coffee maker_. AND…” Jughead had grinned, practically bouncing in his chair, “All this happened the _same week_ that Chuck was exposed as having written that book of conquests and oh so conveniently suffered very little punishment from the school.” He had sat back, looking at her with a satisfied smirk. “And it’s happened before. _Plenty_. October 2015, footballer gets a DUI, school budget receives a _miscellaneous_ ten thousand dollars; he avoids expulsion. July 2017, water polo captain caught uploading his girlfriend’s naked pictures to a revenge porn site, budget goes up twenty three and a half thousand, _nothing_ on his permanent record. And there’s more. So much more. August 2016, January 2013, February 2014, it’s just never-ending.”

Cheryl had watched as Jughead’s slouching shoulders relaxed into a nonchalant shrug, his fingers tapping busily at the wooden desk beneath them.

“Cheryl, Weatherbee can be _bought_. And it’s not right. I’m going to expose him.”

Well, well, well. Perhaps spending time with Jughead Jones did have its merits.

“Jughead, aren’t you scheduled to be joining Southside High very soon?”

She hadn’t cared. Not _really_. But she wasn’t an entire psychopath. And he had been _there_ to help retrieve her from the frozen, merciless waters and he had shown her compassion in this brief interaction between them.

“So what, Cheryl? This will be my parting swan song.”

She’d pressed her lips together, trying desperately not to sound too concerned.

“And when you release this and Weatherbee loses his job and perhaps even faces criminal conviction, will the new Principal of Riverdale High be so willing to accept you back into the student body should Southside High close down? Will they want to have an investigative pest sniffing around their affairs? And that’s not even taking into account the fact that Weatherbee may not even suffer any consequence of this and remain as Principal. You could kiss goodbye to not only your position at this school should you need it, but regardless you’ll most certainly be blacklisted to any and _all_ colleges that you might wish to attend, any potential employers with whom he has contacts and you yourself, _and Betty and her family_ , may come under scrutiny from the police department for having gained all of this information in the first place.”

She’d finished with a non-comital shrug, making her way to the door.

“Your choice, and your funeral, Jones. Merci beaucoup for the delicious titbit though. Always helps to have dirt on one’s faculty members.”

With that final parting thought, she had left him, strutting her long legs smugly down the hall, a priceless morsel echoing around her head behind her smirking face.

**_‘Weatherbee can be bought.’_ **

 

 

 

 

“Cheryl. Please. Please, stop crying. Please?” Toni cooed softly, pushing wet, red hair from Cheryl’s face.

“Oh _hush_ , TT.” Cheryl sobbed, pushing her face further into Toni’s neck, her arms gripping desperately to her back as they lay pressed together on Cheryl’s bed.

Toni had informed her as she’d arrived an hour ago that she’d overheard her grandpa on the phone that morning, enquiring into the price of plane tickets and removal facilities.

Cheryl had been crying ever since.

“Cheryl…” Toni murmured, placing a warm hand to her face to lift Cheryl’s gaze. “It takes time, OK? To organize a move like this. We have time together. We have time. Ok? I know you’re hurting and fuck, believe me, I am too. I don’t want to leave.  I don’t want to leave my home, and my friends, and a state that actually has _seasons_ , and my bike, and the serpents and god, _you_. Most of all you, Cher.”

Oh god. Toni was right. She was _always_ right.

Cheryl realised that, naturally, once again, she had neglected to think about anyone but herself. Despite her tremendous heartbreak, Toni really was losing far more than she. Her heart would have to be breaking too.

“But we have _time_.” Toni continued, pressing her lips gently to Cheryl’s forehead. “And I know you’re in shock and I know you need to let it all out but _please_ , Cher. Please don’t let our final weeks together be like this. I want to remember them as being happy. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Cher. Please don’t let it end like this.”

 _‘End’_ shot jaggedly into Cheryl’s chest, the tears suddenly falling harder as he pulled Toni closer into her body, her pale hand sinking into pink hair to cradle the back of her head.

“It’s just all happening so soon.” She whispered between shuddering breaths, “Why do I always have to lose everything?”

She looked up through misty eyes to see Toni watching her, a tanned hand stroking through her red hair. She looked physically _in pain_. Her brow was tilted and furrowed, soft eyes threatening with tears flicking rapidly over Cheryl’s face, her pretty lips twisted and sickened.

“I’m sorry, Cher.” She breathed, swallowing thickly, “I’m so fucking sorry.”

Cheryl leaned up, desperately gripping the hand in Toni’s hair and pulling her down to meet their mouths together. Cheryl felt the salty wetness of her tears coating her lips as she fluttered her eyes shut, moving them softly against Toni’s with a sigh. She flicked her tongue fleetingly past Toni’s lips before pulling away, nudging their noses together.

“It’s not your fault.” She sighed, staring down at chapped lips. “You’re losing so much too, TT. How are you so being so strong?”

She watched as Toni blinked, her response spilling out bluntly as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“I’ve always had to be, Cher.”

Cheryl’s eyes widened slowly.

She had.

Toni had always had to be strong. Even in the time Cheryl had known her, she’d been there, solid and reliable, always knowing what to say, picking up the pieces, easing Cheryl’s mind and putting the world to rights. Cheryl barely knew about Toni’s life situation. Mainly through Toni’s reluctance to speak about it but also because Cheryl had always taken priority.

Even now. _They_ were being broken apart. _They_ were going through hell. _They_ were losing each other. Not just Cheryl. _They_ were.

And yet here Cheryl lay, cradled safely in Toni’s warm embrace, her worries answered and her tears eased. And what exactly was Cheryl doing for Toni?

She swallowed, sniffing.

“Well now it’s my turn, TT. I’m sorry. I have been selfish and I have been neglecting you and it’s my turn now. To take control. I told you I’m going to fix this and I will.”

She watched Toni groan, her pretty face screwing up in despair as she pulled away from her, rolling onto her back and running a hand over her face.

“Cheryl, I’ve told you. I’ve done everything I can. _Please_. Please stop wishing our time away like this.”

Cheryl whipped the little hand from her face, a determined frown set into her brow.

“I will not lose you.” She whispered firmly, her lower lip trembling as she reigned in her tears, “I will not. And more than that, Toni. I will not let you lose anymore. I will fix this. I am Cheryl **Blossom**.”

 _Cheryl Blossom **got** what she **wanted**_.

Toni gazed at her, her eyes uncertain, but Cheryl saw a flicker of hope in them, watching as her little chest bobbed up and down with quickening breath.

“Do you trust me, TT? To do this for you? For us? Do you trust me?”

Toni paused, nervous teeth gnawing at her freshly healed lip.

Cheryl knew she didn’t want to make promises that could end in sorrow. As strong a she was, a soul could only take so much pain.

“I do.” She nodded finally, a small hand moving to wrap around Cheryl’s. “I trust you, Cher.”

Cheryl let out a long breath, her jaw clenched tightly.

“I’ll find a way. I promise.”

 

 

 

 

“Victor sped across the brush of Moorland, his strong hands ripping into Catherine’s thin nightdress as she let out a moan of desire- Nana Rose this book is _dirty._ ” Cheryl tutted, grimacing at her grandmother as the old woman lay sat up in her bed.

She rolled her milky, frowning eyes, a frail hand waving dismissively through the air.

“Oh Cheryl, one gains nothing from a prudish life, a daily dose of smut is good for the blood.”

Cheryl’s grimace deepened, looking her Nana Rose up and down, judging.

“Well that may be so, Nana Rose, but you’re certainly not getting your daily dose from _me_.” She snapped the book shut, standing daintily on her heeled slippers to slip it neatly into a vacant gap in the bookshelf.

“Now would you like me to read a less filthy novel or are you ready to sleep?”

Cheryl glanced at her grandmother as she settled further down beneath her sheets, shaking her head.

“No, no. No more reading, I’m tired.” She murmured, “Turn off my lamp before you go.”

Cheryl nodded, striding over to the night stand and placing her hand over Nana Rose’s, leaning over carefully to press a light kiss to her papery, wrinkled forehead.

“Where is Antoinette this evening? She is usually here on a Saturday is she not?”

Cheryl froze for a moment, staring at the wall as she pulled back.

“Toni is at work tonight, Nana Rose.”

Nana Rose nodded.

“And will she be returning? Or have the two of you fallen out? I heard you weeping earlier.”

Cheryl cursed herself. Goddammit the woman couldn’t hear a fire alarm but she’d heard Cheryl crying.

“No, Nana Rose. She won’t be returning tonight. But we haven’t fallen out, don’t worry yourself.” She answered guardedly, turning to reach for the lamp.

“Good. I know you are quite taken with her. She appears to be a good friend to you.”

Oh god.

Cheryl sucked in a shuddered breath, lowering her hand and turning to her Nana.

“I am taken with her, Nana Rose. Yes. In fact, she is more than just a friend.”

She swallowed.

She hadn’t even conceived of the idea of having this conversation with her Nana. She wasn’t ashamed or reluctant, she had just assumed, and apparently correctly, that her Nana would have considered her and Toni to simply be _gal pals_ and anything more than that might not be understood. It might be shunned, dismissed, form a permanent rift between her and her beloved grandmother.

Cheryl didn’t need that too.

But now, it seemed, she must bite the bullet.

“We are… together, Nana. Toni and I. And we are in love.” She lifted her eyes to look at her. “I love her.”

She braced herself for derision. For a stony, repellent scowl of disappointment. To be banished from the room with a hiss of damaging insults and to be looked at with disgust for the rest of her life.

But what she saw, quite beautifully, was surprise.

An intrigued, blameless look of surprise, gray eyebrows raised delicately on her face.

“You are in love, Cheryl?” She asked quietly, a bony hand coming to rest on her chest.

_**I’m not loveless, you know.** _

Cheryl paused, nodding her head slowly.

“Yes, Nana Rose. I am.”

Thin, aged lips tipped slowly into a ghost of a smile. Nana Rose was appropriately unaccustomed to emotions, as her social status would dictate, and thus Cheryl found the small display of sentiment to be very touching indeed.

“Then why were you crying, child?”

Oh _god._

Cheryl steadied her breath.

“She may have to leave, Nana. Toni may have to leave Riverdale and move to live in Nevada.”

Nana Rose’s face creased with distaste.

“Whatever for?”

Cheryl closed her eyes.

“Because her grandfather no longer wants her to live in Sunnyside trailer park.”

“Ah yes, I noticed that she wore a Southside serpent coat.”

Cheryl nodded, a light smile curling her lips at the thought of Toni sporting her little jacket, opening her eyes again.

“So that is why I was upset. Goodnight, Nana Rose.”

“You know, Cheryl.” Nana Rose began, a tired sigh huffing from Cheryl’s lips. “A true love is seldom found in this world. Particularly for women like us. If one is lucky enough to have it, they should not let it go.”

Cheryl stiffened, eyes flicking over her Nana’s face incredulously. She had never heard such sincerity from her.

“I had a love like that once, Cheryl.”

What. The. Fuck.

Cheryl scooped a hand beneath her nightdress, tucking it under her leg as she perched to sit on the edge of the bed.

“Grandpappy Blossom you mean?”

Nana Rose scoffed.

“Good god, no. Not that philandering scoundrel.” Her eyes turned wistful, “He was a soldier. British. Stationed to Fort Hamilton in 1944. His name was Oliver. He would meet with me at every opportunity he had for leave. And so, we fell in love. It was blissful,” she smiled, “he asked me to go with him after the war. To return to his country and marry him. But I was already betrothed to your grandfather. And Oliver, as beautiful and tender as he was, was simply a teacher before the war. Our class doesn’t marry into that stock. It simply wasn’t done in those days, to defy social convention and love those that you wanted.”

Cheryl stared, mouth agape, utterly engrossed.

_To defy social convention and love those that you wanted._

Holy shit.

“What happened to him?”

Nana Rose shook her head.

“I do not know. But in my heart of hearts I hope he made it out of the war alive. But I don’t like to dwell on the sorrow. I like to remember him as happy as we were.”

Cheryl blinked back tears, recalling Toni’s words from earlier.

_‘Please don’t let our final weeks together be like this.’_

_**‘I want to remember them as being happy.’** _

Her Nana sighed, turning her tired eyes to her.

“If there is _anything_ that can be done, Cheryl. You must do it.”

Cheryl simply nodded, completely dumbfounded.

_**To defy social convention and love those that you wanted** **.** _

“Thank you, Nana Rose.” She whispered, stepping from the bed. She turned off the lamp, padding quietly to the door, the sound of her grandmother’s heavy sleeping breaths already reaching her ears. She took one glance back at her, lip bitten in thought, before closing the door behind her.

_**‘If there’s anything that can be done Cheryl. You must do it.’** _

She straightened her back, eyes shining with clarity as her mind suddenly drifted to the fortune she had recently inherited.

One simple cheque.

One simple fucking cheque.

And this could all go away.

One last chance to avoid expulsion.

To save Toni.

_Do it, Cheryl._

_Take control._

A hopeful grin spread itself across her face, evoking the words told to her many, many months before.

**_'Cheryl, Weatherbee can be bought_.'**

 

 

 

 


	34. Just On Principal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm incredibly busy at the moment, so here's this. Thank you so much once again for all the kudos and comments and those of you who have stuck with it. It's a genuine joy to hear from you all, so if you'd like to, leave me a comment, let's wax lyrical. Enjoy!

 

 

Cheryl rapped her fingers sharply, thrice, against the clouded glass window of the office door, her high heel tapping tensely upon the floor tiles. Thank god for her free Thursday fourth period. Clicking her tongue, she lowered her hand, returning it to the pocket of Toni’s Serpent jacket that lay over her back. She’d asked to wear it that day, despite the high temperature, feigning to Toni that she’d wished to ‘ _be close to you, TT_.’

The sentiment had only been partly true.

She rolled her shoulders, shifting the heavy leather and smiled as burnt wood and fresh, wet grass and sharp citrus drifted into her nose. Yes, indeed, she felt close to her.

But this was about more than that.

The jacket was about _more_ than that.

She saw the distorted shadow of Principal Weatherbee shifting ominously behind the door and set her spine straight as his voice called out.

“One moment, please.”

This was about _protest_. The jacket functioned as a beautifully comforting emotional support as well as a sexually potent status symbol.

But more than that it was goddamn figurative middle fucking finger.

A finger to Weatherbee. To his fucking rules and his fucking agenda and his fucking _senseless_ decisions that were set to ruin her life.

This was about justice.

This was about _double standards_.

This was about _**control**._

She felt the thin paper of the cheque between her fingers, sucking her cheeks impatiently against her teeth and flipped her hair back from her face with a well-practiced flick of her head.

She’d agonized over how much she should value it. Her pen had hovered absently over the paper, implications and tainted repercussions swimming discouragingly through her head. How much was enough? How much was too little? How much was just obscene? She’d had no concept of money in her full 17 years and for the first instance in all of that time, she’d cursed ever having been born rich. More importantly, however, she had fretted lamentably to herself that she held in her hands the responsibility of what was, essentially, naming the price of Toni’s freedom. Simply put, how much was this perfect little woman worth to her? How much of her frankly disgustingly large fortune was she willing to part with for the sake of saving the only true, pure love she’d ever had? Her girlfriend. Her touchstone. Her Toni. And to be frankly, and contritely, cliché; her raison d’etre. 

She was buying her goddamn _art_.

She had spent two full hours pondering this, her stomach gripping in anxious knots, tapping her knee rapidly beneath her desk, scraping her lower lip red raw with her teeth before she had managed to dismiss those heavy-weighted thoughts from her head entirely.

She’d concluded, quite succinctly, that there simply wasn’t enough money in the world that could equal her feelings for Toni.

Thus, taking into account the seriousness of her demands and the values of the other anonymous ‘tax refunds’ that Jughead had listed to her, she had composed a reasonable figure upon the page in her neat, uniformed penmanship and folded it away carefully like the monetary assassin’s pistol that it was to her.

“Enter.”

_You’re in control_.

She pushed the door open with a flat palm, standing imposingly in the doorway for a moment, her gaze fixed unwaveringly to the unassuming Principal sat before her, writing at his desk.

“Whatever this is, may we make it swift, I’m incredibly busy-”

She watched him look up, pleasant surprise lifting his face.

“Miss Blossom.”

Oh you’re mine, **bitch**.

She stepped forward, running her tongue along the inside of her cheek and closed the door behind her with a swing of her arm.

“Principal Weatherbee.” She greeted in return.

“Please, take a seat. What is it that you need, Cheryl?”

Cheryl made a show of placing her bag in the corner of the room, turning her back to him to ensure that he noted the demonstrative implications of her jacket insignia and stepped slowly back over to the desk, wrapping one slim leg over the other as she took a dainty seat opposite him.

Weatherbee appeared to be suitably confused. Perturbed, even.

_Perfect_.

He crossed his long fingers around each other, placing his nest of hands on the desk.

“Is this pertaining to your recent emancipation, Cheryl?”

She grinned, sucking her teeth.

“Somewhat, yes, Principal Weatherbee.”

She took a moment to gaze around his office, noting the expense of certain items expertly as they lay strikingly juxtaposed to the otherwise modest interior.

_Weatherbee can be bought…_

“Cheryl, may I ask,” Weatherbee started guardedly, a frown itching at his brow as he attempted to fill the silence, “With the knowledge that you are not a member and that, more importantly, I have expressed an intolerance towards gang affiliation garments in the school,” He tilted his head incredulously. She was making him uncomfortable. She liked that. “Why are you wearing a Southside Serpents jacket?”

Cheryl grinned wider, her red lips barely able to contain her white teeth.

“Well spotted, sir. I suppose you don’t make Principal without those _impressive_ observational skills now do you?”

She was mocking him with a blatant abandon, though carefully not to the point of complacency, and the heady rush that the flash of shock and offense currently washing over his expression gave her was doing nothing but spurring her on.

“So thank you for asking, Mr Weatherbee. It is actually very pertinent to my visit.” She sat forward in her chair. “Referring back to your first question, my recent emancipation, as I’m sure you are diligently aware, has allowed me not only legal freedoms over my life, but also with regards to my inheritance.” She explained slowly, rolling her body against the inside of the jacket lightly, “That being: The Blossom Maple Farms, The Blossom Estate and company holdings, a seat on the board of directors, ownership of the vast majority of Blossom owned real estate - both domestic and international lodgings – and control and _unlimited_ access to any and all funds in my family’s name.” She smirked smugly, watching with sharp eyes as Weatherbee failed to grasp her point.

She lowered her voice, her front teeth sharpening her lip as she posed herself ready to take the fatal swipe.

“And _of course_ that would include the annual benefactor donation The Blossoms have been making to this school for, gosh what? Decades? Wouldn’t you say, Principal Weatherbee?”

She watched as the fire of recognition sparked in his eyes, the kindling of his mind starting to glow.

Smirking, she continued.

“Which means that, should I wish to for _whatever_ reason, I could simply click my fingers and have all funding stopped. And where would that leave you then?  Now,” She placed her hands out flat on his desk, encroaching predatorily on his territory, red nails flashing as she strummed her fingers on the wood, “that’s where your _second_ question enters our conversation, Mr Weatherbee. Concerning the Serpent students. More specifically, a select few upon whom you have recently decided to afflict expulsion.”

Weatherbee remained still and stiff, aware that he was no longer dealing simply with a _student_.

Cheryl Blossom was a goddamn _business woman_ , HBIC and fucking force to be reckoned with.

She raised a red eyebrow carefully.

“You see, Principal Weatherbee. In accordance with my _flawless_ academic record – for which, by the way, you are _welcome_ ‑ I make it my business to _know_ things. Generally, about people. And more specifically,” She paused, watching the panic start to settle in the movement of his Adam’s apple, “about … _you_.”

A sharp breath left his nose.

_Oh we haven’t even **started** , darling._

She flicked her eyes admiringly over his desk, running her hands in smooth circles over the polished mahogany.

“This desk, for example. Beautifully made. An attractive piece most certainly. Rather expensive, though.” She looked to him again, his nostrils flaring.

“Miss Blossom-”

“And that chair on which you are so properly sat. My gosh, your chiropractor must be proud.” She jibed, looking around the office. “The coffee maker, that computer, and – upon having just noticed it peeking out from your less than costly jacket sleeve – your _watch_. All very luxurious purchases for someone on a teacher’s salary. Even a Principal. And even the Principal of such an exclusive school as ours.”

She sat up straight, linking her hands to mimic his body language, watching his panicked defences start to blockade his facial expressions with a stern, wide eyed frown.

“How might you have afforded these things? Hmm?” She goaded, pressing her lips together and pretending to wait patiently for an answer.

“ _Cheryl_ -”

“Maybe,” She interrupted, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes, “they were paid for via a _tax refund?”_

He gritted his teeth, knuckles turning white as he gripped his hands together.

She stood then, placing her hands on the desk either side of his open diary and lowered her voice, mocking eyes piercing directly into his.

“Cheryl, I have no idea wha-”

“I’ve seen the records, Weatherbee.” She purred, a grin tugging at the side of her mouth, “I’ve seen the purchases and I’ve seen the _oh so convenient_ timing of it all, coinciding with doing favours for certain students.”

He swallowed.

“You’ll struggle to prove anyth-”

“ _Hush._ ” She gritted pointedly, looking him up and down as her smirk grew.

God she **loved** power.

She was truly **in control**.

“Your secret is safe with me, Mr Weatherbee. Don’t worry.”

A menacing chuckle left her lips.

Weatherbee fidgeted his mouth, weighing his options, his top lip glistening with sweat.

“What do you _want_ , Cheryl?” He all but whispered, trying, but failing desperately, to remain the authority figure between the two.

Slowly, she slipped the cheque from Toni’s pocket, unfolding it deftly with the fingers of one hand and sliding it across the table.

His eyes darted to it immediately, widening as they flickered over the figures.

“I _want_ you to accept _this_. On behalf of the Blossom family, as a _donation_. Slightly more modest in its amount than you’re used to from the ‘IRS’ but I’m _certain_ you won’t mind.” She tapped her finger on it lightly, leaning closer to him, “And should you feel the need  to attempt to expose me for, god forbid, attempting to _bribe_ you, there is simply no way in which you can prove this as anything other than a regular Blossom _donation_ , now is there?”

**Fuck** she was good.

She grinned wider.

“And incidentally, upon receiving this _donation_ , I believe it is only fitting that you cancel the expulsion of the Serpent students and redact it from their permanent records. _And_ , more specifically, I want a handwritten, apologetic, _gushing_ letter of explanation to the guardian of _Toni Topaz..._ ” She saw understanding cross his face at the mention of the name. The faculty may take no interest in the dating lives of the students but they certainly heard about them. Especially about two girls and _especially_ if one of them was Cheryl Blossom. “…addressed from you stating that you were misinformed about her behaviour, enlightening them as to how wonderful of a student and a _person_ she is, what a fantastic contribution to the school that she makes and how her presence here - _and_ in Riverdale, pending her upcoming move to Nevada - is not only appreciated but _necessary_ for both her future and the future of the school.”

She pulled back, flipping her hair over her shoulder, her face the utter _picture_ of satisfaction.

“And, Weatherbee,” She added quietly, “Should you wish you remain in receipt on Blossom funding, and out of an investigative criminal tribunal, you will not so much as _think_ a bad word about her from now on. Do you understand?”

She waited, staring him down until he finally relented, nodding at her.

 “This remains anonymous. My name is not to be mentioned to _any_ of them. Least of all her.” She chirped, strutting over to her bag and swinging it neatly over her shoulder.

She let out a deep breath, humming as her smile turned cheerful.

“And lift the ‘intolerance’ to the jackets. They are entirely inoffensive.”

And my _god_ did Toni look **_powerfully_** sexy in hers.

She moved to the door, opening it half way before turning back for one last taunting glance at him, watching as his shaking fingers took hold of her cheque.

“Effective _immediately_ , Principal Weatherbee. Chop chop,” She warned, her back straightening primly and plastering a grin to her face as students began to enter the hallway, “Thank you _so_ much for your time, sir. I do _so_ appreciate it. Ciao now.”

 

 

 

 

“So what did the letter say, TT?”

Cheryl watched as Toni pushed a handful of fries into her mouth, a grunt of recognition leaving her  as they sat opposite each other in a secluded booth at Pop’s, one of each of their hands reaching across the table to link their fingers together loosely. She sucked some grease from her thumb quickly, wrapping her chapped lips around it, and shook her head in disbelief as she scrunched her little fingers into a napkin to blot them clean.

“Oh my god, it was so weird.” Toni murmured, shifting restlessly in her seat. “So it’s addressed directly to my grandpa for starters. Like, not ‘ _to the guardian of…’_ or any of that shit, it literally says _‘Dear Thomas Topaz’_. Which Sweets and Jughead and Fangs didn’t get,” She pulled Cheryl’s fingers between her hands, running her own fingers idly over the vascular map of blue veins poking through the pale skin. “And it’s written in pen. Like, _handwritten,_ Cher. What the fuck? So it’s just saying shit like, the expulsion was a mistake and it shouldn’t have happened without proper evidence, and we shouldn’t have been blamed immediately just because we’re serpents,” she took a breath, screwing up her left eye as she tried to recall the letter, “some weird shit about how I am a credit to the school and to Riverdale and that my opportunities are guaranteed to be ‘abundant’ I think he used,” She smirked, rolling her eyes as she looked down at their hands, “that my grandpa should reconsider the move and that if the expulsion played any part in that, Weatherbee said he is _deeply regretful_ and blah blah blah, just weird bullshit like that.”

She waved her hand, shifting upwards as she tucked a little leg beneath her.

“That’s not _weird_ BS, TT. It’s all true.” Cheryl chuckled, watching her face with an unbridled adoration.

Toni nodded, shrugging one shoulder as she cut a fry in half with her front teeth and chewed it neatly, smirking.

“Yeah, I know. I’m pretty fucking awesome.”

Cheryl watched her laugh at her own words and squeezed Toni’s hand affectionately.

“You’re a little more than that, TT.” She murmured softly, flicking her eyes over freckles, her chest filling with a fluttering ache. The low lights of the diner cast soft shadows over her face, the attractive contours of Toni’s cheekbones accentuated beautifully in the dim glow. Her dark skin, growing darker still from the sun, looked smooth and rich, a healthy bronze glittering from her and offsetting itself complementarily against the fading pink in her hair. Her brown eyes were dark and loving, popping strikingly from behind her thick lashes and reflecting the flickering neon red and blue from the bulbs of the Pop’s sign outside of the window next to them, shining keenly with that infectious lust for life that Cheryl saw so deeply within them.

God she loved her.

Cheryl loved every, damn, little thing.

_‘If there is anything that can be done, Cheryl. You must do it.’_

Dear Lord please let this plan work.

Cheryl ran a finger beneath the plaid of Toni’s sleeve and rubbed it gently against the tender skin of her wrist.

“I just don’t even know where it’s all coming from, Cher. It’s so random for Weatherbee to just change his mind like that. You want the rest of these?” She nodded towards the leftover fries on her plate and Cheryl shook her head, watching as Toni balled her napkin in her hand and discarded it on top of them with a sigh. “But Jug says he apparently knows that Weatherbee is known to take bribes or something? You know anything about that?” She lifted her gaze to Cheryl’s.

Cheryl shook her head.

“Interesting.”

Toni nodded.

“So I think it coulda been maybe FP and the Serpents. Paid him off or something.”

Cheryl hid a smile, brushing some crumbs from the table with her fingers.

“Perhaps, TT.”

“And Weatherbee has even said we can bring our jackets to school now without getting shit from the teachers which is also weird, but I’m not complaining. Means I get to wear it hassle-free. And you can too.” She smiled, looking Cheryl up and down, “You know, that jacket looks good on you.”

Cheryl smirked, rolling her eyes.

“ _Everything_ looks good on me.”

Toni nodded, her chest vibrating with a chuckle.

Peace.

Control.

Cheryl squeezed her hand gently in the brief moment of pause, glancing to her.

_Touch_.

“So, what did your grandpa say upon reading the letter?”

She waited tensely, the remnants of sweet cherry milkshake lingering in her mouth as she swallowed.

Toni shrugged.

“He said he was proud of me. He said he knew the Northside was still like that towards Southsiders and he understood that it wasn’t my fault.”

Cheryl shifted guiltily, winding her fingers tighter around Toni’s.

“And he also said that he really wants me to stay at Riverdale High because he knows I love it and clearly I’m _apparently_ doing so well. But he’s still not totally turned around on the move because he had a date ready for it and all these plans organized and, I mean, the expulsion wasn’t _great_ but it still wasn’t the main reason for the move, it was just the final straw. He still wants me out of Sunnyside.”

Cheryl took a deep breath, running her thumb against Toni’s knuckles.

_‘If there is anything that can be done, Cheryl. You must do it.’_

**_You’re in control._ **

Do it, Cheryl. Take control and do it.

You’ve bought your art, now take it home.

“TT, I may have a solution for that.”

Toni stopped, her mouth pursed around the straw of her milkshake as her eyebrows rose slowly on her face.

She swallowed it thickly, her pink tongue poking out to swipe her lips.

“Toni,” Cheryl started, a smile growing slowly at the corners of her mouth, “Would you perhaps like to come and live with me at Thistlehouse?”

She felt Toni’s hand go limp in her own, twisting the tanned fingers lightly as she watched Toni’s eyes widen.

A few seconds of silence ticked by, the cogs turning noticeably in Toni’s head.

“Cheryl,” She finally rasped, her lips parting lightly, “are you being serious?”

Cheryl let out a light laugh, reaching her other hand over the table to place her palm facing upwards, beckoning Toni’s hand to join it. Toni obliged, wrapping their fingers together.

Cheryl held on tightly.

“Of course I am, TT.” She promised, eyes flicking between Toni’s earnestly, “Come and live with me. You can move out of Sunnyside, and along with this miraculous note from Weatherbee you’d surely be allowed to stay.”

She watched Toni, breath caught, arms tensed, searching her face with hopeful eyes. Her happiness, her _future_ , her entire life rested solely on her response.

Toni bit at her lip.

“But Cher… I mean, living together, we’re so young.”

Cheryl fought a tut.

“We can iron out the intricacies later, TT.” She insisted, tugging at Toni’s hands, “This primarily is about getting your grandpa to change his mind and allow you to stay.”

Toni squeezed her hands.

“What about Nana Rose?”

“TT, she’s so fond of you.”

“And your mom?”

Cheryl frowned, rolling her eyes.

Seriously?

“Toni, she does _not_ get a vote.”

Toni seemed to dwell on it for a moment, a small smile biting at her lips.

Cheryl’s chest swelled with hope.

“Come and live with me, TT.” She whispered, leaning closer over the table, bowing her head to catch her eyes, “Your grandfather too.”

Toni’s head lifted quickly, a regretful frown pinching her brow.

“Cher, I…” She sighed, “That is… I mean, _so_ good of you to invite him too, but,” She pressed her lips together, “He wouldn’t.”

Cheryl shook her head.

“Not in Thistlehouse, Toni, not if he didn’t want to. We have so many places in which he could abide, free of charge of course. Any of the converted barns on the estate would-”

“No, Cher not because of that.” Toni murmured softly, avoiding her eyes. “It’s because you’re a Blossom. Not you personally, I mean, shit… he’s so happy for us but, your family. Your ancestors. What they did to the Uktena.” She paused, looking to Cheryl, “He couldn’t live on your land. Just on principal.”

Cheryl’s face softened.

Of _course_.

“I understand.” She sighed, rubbing her pale thumbs into Toni’s hands.

“But, it was never really about him having to stay at Sunnyside. It was about him wanting me to leave. So…”

Cheryl watched as Toni let a small smile break onto her face as she continued.

“… I’ll talk to him. I’ll tell him that you’ve offered me a place to stay and I’ll also tell him…” her smile broke into a grin, “…That I have accepted.”

Cheryl felt a wave of relief splash across her face, a rush of breath leaving her lips as she began to blink away tears.

“You will?”

Good God this might just work.

She might just be saved.

Toni nodded, bringing Cheryl’s hand to her mouth and kissing it with a breath-taking gentleness.

“I will.”

She let go of Cheryl’s hands, standing up and sliding out of the booth to round the table and slip in next to Cheryl, pushing her into the corner and taking her pale face in her little hands.

Cheryl stared expectantly into Toni’s eyes as they stared right back, wide and grateful and utterly smitten.

“Thank you, Cheryl.” She whispered, each word slow and low and crisply articulate, chipping their way beautifully, meaningfully into the marble of Cheryl’s mind as they conveyed her gratitude in its true intended authenticity.

“Thank you.” She repeated, warm hands pressing tighter to Cheryl’s face. “I cannot tell you how much this means to me. You are the best thing to ever happen to me, Cheryl Blossom.”

Cheryl’s breath stuttered.

‘ _The best thing to ever happen to me.’_

She watched as Toni’s eyes flicked down to her mouth, her head turning as she leaned in and Cheryl shut her eyes instinctually, feeling warm lips press a welcoming pressure to her own. They moved slowly against each other, Cheryl’s hands gripping ardently to Toni’s sides. She whimpered lightly, lips caressing and teeth tugging and tongues flicking intermittently at each other as they ventured to delve lazily into each other’s mouths. She felt one more soft, passionate kiss pressed weightily to her lips before Toni pulled back to press her warm forehead to Cheryl’s.

“I love you so much, Cher.”

Cheryl’s heart fluttered franticly in her chest, tilting Toni’s head back with her nose to kiss her again.

“And I love you, TT.” She whispered, breath panting lightly into each other’s mouths.

She felt a small hand push her red hair behind her ear and watched as Toni’s lips grew into a smile.

“You’ll finally have someone in that house to take care of _you_ , Cheryl.”

Cheryl smiled.

Never thinking of her goddamn self this girl.

**_‘You’re the best thing to ever happen to me, Cheryl Blossom.’_ **

Security.

Stability.

**Peace**.

 

 


	35. Blossom Maple Syrup.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there. Just some light fluffy shit to reward you guys for all the previous angst. Some light smut in the middle too for those of you who wish to skip it. Thanks so much, also, for your comments, guys. Honestly, it's crazy how nice you've all been. Thank you so much, hope you enjoy this. Happy reading!

 

 

Cheryl awoke to the smell of rain and dampened leaves, the bite of lemons cutting through the earthen fragrance sweetly as she pressed her face into the pillow further, heaving a deep breath and wriggling her sleeping limbs awake, basking in the dreamy orchard aroma clinging to her bed.

Toni.

The gorgeous, intoxicating, natural essence of Toni. Tattooed to her bed sheets after five glorious nights of having her sleeping next to her, an official resident of Thistlehouse.

She smiled, eyes still closed.

There was still plenty to put away, schedules to work out, the _future_ of the arrangement to mull over.

But for now, she was here. She was safe. And she was **staying**.

God Bless Thomas Topaz for not being a stubborn man.

Cheryl turned, a small sigh escaping her nose as she curved her back lightly, feeling her vertebrae click comfortably back into place with a series of gentle pops, and opened her eyes to see her perfect little lemon orchard dweller lying comfortably on her side, facing away.

Holy shit she was _here_.

And not just for the night. Not just stopping over after being locked out. She’d never be locked out again.

She was  _here_.

Cheryl reached out a hand, tickling her fingers through the soft ends of Toni’s hair as it splayed itself out on the bed between them.

She was so perfect. What an utterly _perfect_ human being. And what a beautifully peaceful scene to wake up to. For all the years she’d awoken to the cold, echoing expanse of Thornhill. For all the mornings she’d awoken in Jason’s bed just to find that, by very circumstance of her sleeping there, he was gone forever and would never again lay his head to rest anywhere but beneath the ground. For all the months she’d stared bleakly, stonily across at that _hideous_ painting her mother had hung opposite her bed, a warning to her about the dreadful destiny to which her Sapphic rebellions would forever damn her.

The bed upon which Toni now slept with her. The bed upon which Toni now held her. Upon which Toni now kissed her, and praised her, and laughed with her and spoke softly to her in the darkness before sleep.

No longer simply, the bed. But _their_ bed.

Cheryl bristled in the warm heat that spread outwards from her chest, filling every pocket of her essence with calm.

 _Their_ bed.

She bit her lip.

Trailing her eyes over the smooth curve of Toni’s hip, she reached out her hand to run her fingertips lightly down her slim back, smiling as they touched over a small patch of skin, exposed by the lifting of her t-shirt and the sheet wrapped delicately around her legs.

So warm.

Smooth.

 _Here_.

She flattened her hand, running her thumb over the bumps of Toni’s spine and curled her fingers around Toni’s ribs, smiling as the little body in front of her shifted slightly and a warm hand crept out to rest on top of hers.

“You woke me up, you pervert.” Came a tired croak, the vibrations of a chuckle passing through into Cheryl’s fingers.

Cheryl smiled, shifting closer on the bed to press herself into her back, wrapping her arm tightly around her middle.

“Sorry.” Cheryl murmured, leaning up to brush pink strands from Toni’s face as she lay, still half asleep, and gazed lovingly over her face. “I just wanted to touch you. I still can’t believe that you’re here.”

She leaned her head down, starting at Toni’s chin, pressing soft pecking kisses up her face, over her cheek to her temple, leaving her full lips pushed against it gently for a moment before pulling back to see Toni smiling, eyes closed.

 _God_ it was _painful_ how much she loved her.

“It better not be before 9 am, Bombshell.”

Cheryl flicked her eyes to the clock guiltily. Toni had had a late shift at the Wyrm last night, a particularly busy Friday night, and had clearly been exhausted when Cheryl had collected her.

“You can go back to sleep, TT.”

Toni huffed a knowing laugh, turning in Cheryl’s arms.

“Nah, I need to take a shower anyway.” Toni whispered, flicking her eyes tiredly over Cheryl’s face. “You always look this beautiful in the mornings don’t you?” She mused distractedly, stroking a tanned finger over Cheryl’s cheek.

Cheryl had wanted to assume that it was simply more of Toni’s habitual flirting, but the absentminded innocence of her words suggested otherwise, provoking a smile onto Cheryl’s face.

“Something you’ll have to get used to I suppose, Cha-Cha.”

Toni joined her in a smile, her fingertips tickling over Cheryl’s eyebrow with affectionate curiosity.

“I’m not mad about that at all.”

 

 

 

Water.

Clear and cleansing.

Possessing a powerfully cyclical relevance to Cheryl’s life.

It had once been the source of such happiness. Such peace. A soft, soothing reprieve for her and JJ, their trips to Sweetwater River serving as a welcome retreat for them both.

A happier time.

Then the sadness. The regret. The loss of her brother and the insidious channels which had inundated her mind, drip by drip, the blame and the pressure and the will to plunge beneath the icy depths and float numbly to her end.

And then, now. The final return of the circle. Repeating its flow back to the nice, the _good_ meaning in Cheryl’s life.

Water.

She watched as it cascaded smoothly over Toni’s face. Slow, trickling channels of transparency flowing freely across the dark skin. So captivating was it, almost as if suspended in slow motion, to watch the currents bulge over her parted lips, disappearing briefly to drip sensually down, down over her chin, down over her slender neck, some stopping to pool in the hollow of her collar bones and the rest bouncing freely from her chest to splash coolly against Cheryl’s own skin.

Mesmerising.

Beautiful.

Water.

Once more a peaceful association.

A low groan broke through her haze, the harsh rush of the shower flow deafening her ears as it streamed down onto their heads from above. She felt the cool tiles beneath her hand, the smooth skin of Toni’s leg slipping gently against her hip, and the hot, tight muscles clenching deliciously around her fingers as she moved them slowly in and out.

Toni moaned again, higher in pitch, her arms slipping over Cheryl’s back to hook around her shoulders, bringing her in tighter.

She would never tire of this, she was convinced of it. The feeling of Toni’s naked body pressed to hers, the tight tugging grip on her fingers so willing and _wanting_ , the moans and pants and raspy whimpers that left that sweet fucking mouth as Cheryl did her best to draw them from her. To get pleasure from giving pleasure. To make Toni feel good. To repay the debt of what Toni had so dutifully provided to Cheryl with her mouth just moments ago. She saw no will to ever stop and no will, either, to partake in it with anyone else. With Toni it was so perfect. So beautiful. So gorgeous and indulgent and satisfying. Whether it was slow and affectionate rolling together in bed or fast and hurried and desperate, it was always _perfect_.

She pressed her face into Toni’s neck, opening her mouth to suck lightly on it, rolling her body into Toni’s with each steady thrust of her hand. She knew how to play this out by now. They both did. It still remained fresh and, for Cheryl, still very new, but despite how free of a spirit Toni was her body could be played like clockwork. Like the liberal brush strokes of a paintbrush in her hand, abundant and unrestricted, but ultimately culminating in a formulaic combination of movements to bring about the best results.

A work of _art_.

She hooked her fingers, a gargled moan warming her neck.

The soft pants of breath grew faster in her ear as she pushed on, the final masterpiece almost clear and finished by her artist's hands as she kissed her way up Toni’s jaw, breathing heavily against the streams of water that poured across her lips.

“I love you.” Cheryl purred insistently over the rush of the shower, feeling loving little hands grip onto her for dear life and a toned leg creeping tightly around her hip. She moved her fingers faster, ragged breaths tearing gorgeously from Toni’s chest as Cheryl repeated her words, “I love you so much.”

Steady, faster, tighter…

And, finally, the piece was complete, the working of Cheryl’s hands bringing such colorful beauty to a finish as she felt Toni clamp rhythmically around her fingers, low moans vibrating into her ear. She slowed to a stop, a small chest rising and falling beneath her own as she lowered her lips to Toni’s shoulder, pressing a soft kiss to it as if to sign her name above the frame of her work.

She held tightly to Toni’s hips, steadying her gently as she lowered her leg and watched as Toni’s hands reached up to cradle her face, mouths meeting and lips opening, tongues working slowly against each other.

Toni pulled back languidly, a smile on her face.

“You were _born_ to pleasure women, Cheryl Blossom.” She ordained with a chuckle, standing up on her tiptoes to kiss Cheryl’s forehead.

_You’re a natural._

Cheryl laughed, light and quiet, still very much a foreign sound to her own ears these days.

“Well then, TT. You’ll have to hold on to me rather tightly. Won’t you?”

 

 

 

 

“You’ve _never_ had it?”

Cheryl turned, dumbfounded, the plate in her hand slackening slightly in surprise.

Toni shrugged, reaching out to take it.

“Nope.”

Preposterous.

Cheryl blinked, disbelievingly, shaking her head.

“No. No, it’s merely not that simple. _Never?_ ”

Toni gave her a pointed look, eyebrows raised, the hint of a droll smile on her lips.

“ _No_ , Cheryl. It’s not that deep.”

She turned, opening a drawer and peeling her eyes over the insides to find a fork, still unfamiliar without the ins and outs of such a large home.

Cheryl all but spluttered, a confused frown deepening on her brow.

Utterly _preposterous_.

“The drawer to your left.” She instructed absentmindedly, pulling it open for Toni and retrieving a fork for her. “But how have you _avoided_ it?”

Toni took the fork with a roll of her eyes.

“First of all it’s _expensive_ , Cheryl. And more importantly, no offense, it’s made by your family. That’s not _super_ popular in the Southside.” She moved to turn away to begin eating at the table when Cheryl stopped her, concerned eyes flitting over her face.

“Toni, history aside.” She murmured softly, taking Toni’s free hand in hers, “And familial bias too. Blossom Maple Syrup is made from premium soil, centuries old trees and aged in the finest handcrafted barrels to make the sweetest, fruitiest, smokiest tasting-”

“-Cheryl, I’m not an investor” Toni laughed.

Cheryl stamped her foot, tugging at Toni’s hand.

“TT, _zip it_. What I’m trying to say is that despite their many gargantuan flaws, my family truly does produce the finest tasting maple syrup, I believe, in the world. I have such fond memories of waking to the taste of it with breakfast.” She glanced her eyes to the rapidly cooling pancakes on Toni’s plate, “And it pains me to know that you didn’t experience the same delicious excitement and joy as I and many of my childhood friends.” Her eyes showed a genuine sadness and she watched Toni’s face soften in reaction. “Will you try some now? Please?”

Toni sighed, rolling her eyes.

“Jesus, _yes_ fine, Cher. You have any?”

Cheryl scoffed.

“Take your pick of the hundreds of barrels in the barn. Or, alternatively, there’s a bottle in there.” She pointed to a cupboard behind Toni’s head. “I’ll fetch it down for you.”

“No it’s fine, Cheryl. I can get it.”

“TT, it’s on the top shelf let me-”

“Cheryl, I’m not a baby I can get it.”

Toni set her plate on the granite counter top and hefted herself onto it daintily with a surprising strength, climbing to her feet.

Cheryl watched, moving forward swiftly to hold her hands out, ready to do _something,_ if not quite manage to properly catch her, should she fall.

“Toni, be careful.” She muttered, watching her retrieve the bottle and rake her eyes over it incredulously. “And watch the counter tops, they’re Brazilian granite.”

“Oh my god. Relax, Cheryl.”

Cheryl slid her hands into Toni’s sides as she crouched to sit, aiding her down to the ground and took the bottle from her, unscrewing the cap and drizzling it delicately over the pancakes with nostalgic eyes.

“Now, you don’t want too much, TT. It’s almost like wine. This is the perfect amount to complement the hints of nutmeg in the mix.”

She bit her lip, pushing the plate along the counter with a gritty scrape.

“Cheryl, not that I don’t appreciate the effort and not that my heart doesn’t get all fast when I see you enjoying something…”

Cheryl smiled coyly.

“…But I literally grew up on boxed mac and cheese. My _palate,_ as you call it, will probably only register ‘sweet’ so just don’t be disappointed.”

Cheryl rolled her eyes at Toni’s smirk, nudging her arm expectantly.

“Just taste it.”

She watched as Toni slowly dug her fork into the soft dough, cutting into it sideways, and pricked a morsel slowly with the prongs. She dragged it languidly in a pool of syrup and twirled her fork in the air neatly to catch the sugary drips. She gave Cheryl one final look before placing it to her mouth and wrapping her lips around it, pulling the fork out cleanly.

She chewed, once, twice, before she stopped, eyes widening.

Cheryl grinned.

“You _see_?”

Toni ignored her, eyes fluttering shut as she began to chew again, the feminine contours of her jaw muscles working deftly in the morning light as she seemed to savour every spark of sweetness that danced on her tongue and bit sharply at the corners of her mouth.

Cheryl was entirely entranced, watching intently until Toni opened her eyes, a lump bobbing in her throat as she swallowed.

Then silence.

Cheryl reached out, wiping her thumb beneath Toni’s lip to catch a wayward drip and brought it to her own mouth to suck it clean.

“How was it?”

Toni rolled her tongue around her mouth, eyes blinking slowly as she relived the taste from the sticky remnants on her tongue.

She took a moment before answering, clearing her throat.

“Not enough to undo the attempted genocide of indigenous people.” She murmured, licking her lips as they tilted into a smirk.

Cheryl rolled her eyes.

“But, yeah, I like it, Cher...”

Toni picked up her plate, licking her lips a final time before leaning up on her toes to kiss Cheryl’s lips slowly, their eyes remaining open and joyful as they stared at each other before Toni pulled away, padding across to the table.

“…It tastes like you.”

_You’re the best thing to ever happen to me, Cheryl Blossom._

 

 

 


	36. Sensibilities.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I know it's been about a week, but my job is crazy intense and I've had to travel a little etc and it's been busy as fuuuuck, but here's this! Fluffy and not a lot of action, lots of dialogue, but honestly I've been waiting for the right moment to slot this into this fic for a while because it touches on some stuff that I really think Cheryl fucking needs, man. As per usual, Toni is a fucking babe. So enjoy, comment, let me know what you think! Also, if you haven't already or you would like to, go check out my other Choni fic 'The Cognitive Dissonance of Capture' that I've just started, very angsty and AU. Thanks, guys.

 

 

 

Cheryl drifted her fingers over the damp contours of a toned, dark stomach, her teeth nipping lightly into the crook of Toni’s neck.

“Cheryl.” A tired grumble, coupled with a light shove to her arm.

“Hmm?” Cheryl murmured, pressing herself closer as her lips sucked a path to Toni’s ear, sinking her teeth into it gently and sliding her hand lower to cup her between her legs.

“ _Cheryl_. I told you. It’s too damn hot.” Toni whined, nudging her hand and rolling away from her to splay herself across her side of the bed.

Cheryl scoffed a laugh, turning onto her back, watching as a humid breeze blew sluggishly through the curtains.

“We must lead a celibate life during the summer, must we?” she drawled, flopping her head to the side as she gazed over at Toni.

“Only during the day, Cher. I can’t deal with the heat.” She slurred against the pillow, cracking open one eye to smirk at her.

Cheryl grinned, reaching out a hand to push some pink hair from Toni’s face.

“Well then you’d certainly have hated it in Nevada.”

Toni lifted her head; taking Cheryl’s wandering fingers in her hand and pressing them to her lips.

“For a _bunch_ of reasons, Cher.”

Cheryl watched as Toni flicked her eyes between hers for a moment, a small smile growing on her face.

“Well not to worry. You’re here now, TT.”

Toni rolled her eyes, dropping Cheryl’s hand.

“Yeah, with no fuckin’ air conditioning. I’m dying here.”

Cheryl rolled her eyes this time, tickling her fingers along Toni’s back.

“Well _apologies_ that Thistlehouse was built in the 1800s, Toni. Rather out of my control.”

“They couldn’t have installed it later?”

“This is Nana Rose’s house and she likes the warmth.”

“Does she not fucking sweat?”

“Watch your language when you’re talking about my Nana, _TT_.” Cheryl warned, trailing her hand down to Toni’s backside to smooth her palm across it.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to – _Cher, stop_ ,” She chuckled, removing Cheryl’s hand.

“Anyway,” Cheryl sighed, pulling back her hand and waving it in the air to fan her face, “It’s not as if you had air conditioning in your trailer. I remember it being utterly _sweltering_ in there when I visited and the temperature certainly wasn’t even at its seasonal highest then.”

Toni grunted in agreement, turning her face away to rest on the other side.

“But it didn’t matter because we’d go swimming at Sweetwater River to cool off.”

“Oh.”

Cheryl pressed her lips together, dropping her hand to the bed.

They were quiet for a moment, the creaking of Thistlehouse’s old wood and iron adornments cracking gently in the silence of the summer wind as they expanded in the sun.

“Thornhill manor had a pool.” Cheryl mused quietly, not quite _entirely_ regretful but for Toni’s sake, a little.

Toni sighed, lightly and softly through her nose, and heaved her lethargic body with a groan, turning around to face Cheryl, her eyes soft.

“It also had shitty memories and a shitty stranglehold over your life, Cher. Burning it down was sexy as _hell_ **and** the right thing to do.”

Cheryl smiled, turning onto her side and resting her face against the back of her hand. Perhaps encouraging borderline sociopathic behaviour wasn’t necessarily the best thing to do, but fuck it, the only approval she looked for was Toni’s and she was damn grateful for the support.

“As hell? Really?”

Toni nodded slowly, her soft cheek brushing the cool cotton of the pillow, her thick lashes bending to kiss her freckled cheeks affectionately as her eyes lay closed.

“Hell yes.” She murmured, lips parting. “Plus the chlorine would’ve damaged the dye in my hair anyway. You definitely made the right choice.”

 Cheryl laughed, sweet and short, drifting her eyes over Toni’s dozing face.

Beautiful.

Pretty and funny and kind.

There had been so much rigid, high expectation on Cheryl for having been born a Blossom. Things to _have_ , things to _achieve_.

But truly - she pondered as she gazed over brown cheeks and textured lips and lids enclosed over intelligent brown eyes that held her in higher esteem than life _itself_ \- rich or poor, what more could anyone possibly gain? Possibly _want_ than the love of the girl lying next to her?

“Well we wouldn’t want _that_ , TT.”

“Am I hearing sarcasm from you, Cheryl Blossom?”

Cheryl smirked, watching Toni’s lips stretch into a smile.

“No, TT. I’d feel the same way about you however you looked.”

Toni scoffed.

“But you just don’t like the pink streaks?”

“TT, believe me, I _love_ the pink.”

Cheryl bit her smirking lip, reaching across to twirl a strand gently around her finger.

“You like _pulling_ on it, Cheryl.”

Cheryl gasped, a shocked smile tilting the edges of her mouth.

“Excuse me, _you_ like me pulling on it.”

She watched Toni wipe beads of sweat from her nose with the length of her tanned forearm as she laughed, her smile dropping slowly from her face and her closed eyes frowning as she huffed with irritation suddenly.

“Fuck, it’s so damn **hot**.”

Cheryl pressed her lips together.

She didn’t want to go. She didn’t want to suggest it. She didn’t want to feel it on her skin. In her eyes and mouth and nose and _lungs_. To feel her body plunge downwards into the cold depths, not knowing if she would ever resurface, reliving so vividly the feeling of simply _not wanting_ to resurface. She might not be afraid any longer to sit by its sweeping currents and gaze at its frozen beauty but entering the depths of Sweetwater River, the body of water that came so close to becoming her _coffin,_ was another step on the ladder to recovery _entirely_.

She shifted her head on the pillow, dragging a pale fingertip over Toni’s arm.

“Do you want to go then?”

Toni frowned harder, eyes still closed.

“Go where, Cher?” She grunted.

“Sweetwater, to swim? To cool off? I could drive us?”

Toni paused for a moment, her sweaty arm dropping to the bed as she slowly opened her eyes, draping them over Cheryl’s face.

Cheryl watched her, waiting.

“You’re offering to go to Sweetwater for me?”

Her eyes were concerned, open and cautious.

Cheryl nodded.

“Cher…” Toni whispered, shifting closer on the bed, running a warm hand over red hair. “… Knowing what I know now, I would never want you to go there unless you felt ready…”

_I’m not going to force **anything** between us._

“…I mean shit, Cher. After what you’ve been through.”

Cheryl felt a thumb stroking at her cheek softly and sighed.

_What more could anyone possibly want._

“You’re always sacrificing yourself for my sensibilities, TT. I want to do something for you, for once.”

She stopped talking, gaze searching Toni’s face.

Toni looked almost offended at her words, her eyes widening and mouth opening as she frowned at Cheryl, pulling back slightly to sit up on her arm.

“Cheryl…” She said carefully, quietly, blinking her eyes, “…your mental health is not just ‘ _sensibilities’_ , ok? Fuck, Cher. Your happiness and how you feel about yourself, you know, inside your head… it’s not something I have to ‘sacrifice’ anything for.  It’s a fucking _priority_. And I care about it.”

Cheryl’s heart began to beat faster, swallowing the lump in her throat.

False promises and empty words were no strangers to her, whether from others or from her own mouth, but with Toni, it seemed, dishonesty and insincerity were cardinal sins with no place in her life.

She truly, _genuinely_ meant what she said.

Cheryl bit her lip.

“And something for _me for once?_ Cheryl, _you’re_ the only reason I’m still here. Goddammit, Cher, you’ve given me a _home_. From time to time I’ve had somewhere to crash for the night but a fucking _home?_ I’ve **never** had one of those. I can’t… I mean,” She seemed to struggle to find the words and Cheryl’s chest ached, “You’re _everything_ , Cher.”

Cheryl dropped her eyes to Toni’s hand, wrapping her own pale fingers around it. She was beginning to think that Toni was perhaps, in fact, the most articulate one of the two of them, deep down. Her ability to ease Cheryl’s mind was not something that could be learned.

_What more could **anyone** want?_

“Look, I know the circumstances are kinda weird what with us living together already and not having a great situation on either side with regards to parents,  and not having been together for a crazy long time, Cher. And I know we’re only 17, but, this is a partnership, ok? This is about me and you, now, in equal parts. Healthy and happy. And I don’t know about you but _I_ want it to last a while,” Toni let a smile creep over her face, “You don’t need to keep things in your head and beat yourself up about them. People have really done a number on you, Cher. You’ve had so much to deal with. And you’ve come so far. But you can still tell me anything.  And maybe, if you felt ready, you could talk to someone else about how you’re feeling? Like, a professional?” She paused, flicking her kind eyes over Cheryl’s face, “I just want you to be happy. And for you to know that if I do something for you, Cheryl, I’m doing it for _us_ and I’m doing it because I _want_ to. And you don’t need to feel guilty about that. I support _you_ , Cheryl, and that includes **everything**.”

Cheryl simply stared at her, thoroughly overwhelmed by the serendipitous twist of once such cruel fate that had led Toni Topaz into her life.

_Bullseye._

She shook her head, for one of the few times in her life, utterly speechless.

What could she say? What was there to say to _that_?

Good _God_ this girl was **_it_.**

_You can tell me **anything.**_

She leaned up, pressing a chaste peck to Toni’s dry lips.

There was only one thing to say.

She moved her eyes to Toni’s, swallowing dryly as she squeezing her hand.

“I love you, TT.”

_What **more** could **anyone** possibly want?_

 

 

 


	37. Queen Of The Buskers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!!! Right, so in true Scuff style there's a flashback in this one. It alludes to things to come but also it provides a little bit of Choni before the beginning of Scuff to round this fic out a little and give it some behind the scenes depth. So I hope you like it. Also, the rest is fluffy as fuck, apologies for just offloading tons of seemingly pointless fluff on you guys but I promise its all building you up for stuff to come. I'm travelling away for the next few days and wont be able to write/update this or Cognitive Dissonance of Capture, but please feel free to comment what you liked or didn't or discourse of any kind, it's all greatly appreciated, I absolutely adore reading and responding to you all. So enjoy this, read Cognitive Dissonance, do whatever, stay hydrated and I'll see you guys at the beginning of next week sometime when I've driven back from the fucking airport. Thank you so much! much love x

 

 

Cheryl had been pummeling her Vixens sneakers into the tiles of the empty school hallway, her observant eyes peeled and ready. It had only been a few weeks since the _Southside scum_ had inevitably moved their filthy, unintelligent presence to Riverdale High and she was still on extra-high alert to reinforce her HBIC status, lest they think that they were anything more than mere charity cases _visiting_ in **her** school.

She’d known, through Ginger who’d been told by Josie who’d heard from Betty who’d spoken to Jughead, that the group had taken to ghettoising themselves in an old classroom on the second floor and she’d honed in on the door as it came into view, the sound of unrefined cackling and leather boots scuffing marks against the polished floors floating towards her.

She had been on a mission.

She had been determined to exert a power move, drop by _their_ domain in her Vixens practice uniform and let them see for themselves who the true poster-child in charge of this fucking place was. And to see if the restrictions that her and her mother had _gently suggested_ to Principal Weatherbee about the Serpent students had been enforced. But more so, however, she had been on a mission to _recruit_.

One of the girls.

The one with the pink hair.

The one who had stepped out of formation on Welcome Day and given as good as she’d gotten back to Cheryl.

The little one who had piqued her interest.

The _Queen of the Buskers_.

**The pretty one.**

_Control yourself, Cheryl._

Cheryl had been told that her name was Toni, by the serpent girl’s new biggest fan Veronica, and since their suitably hostile first meeting they had only exchanged words twice.

The first had been in the cafeteria. Cheryl had been waiting in line for a cookie, staring daggers at the Serpent insignia plastered to the back of a denim jacket which stood forebodingly in front of her. Then, as if summoned by the god of _irritation_ themselves, the one they called ‘Fangs’ had bounded into the line, pushing his way between them.

“Toni come in here, we can have cuts with Sweets.”

Cheryl had, quite literally, seen red.

She had been _nanoseconds_ away from unleashing all hell upon him, her perfectly painted lips parted and pulled into a sneer, the breath in her throat locked and loaded to tear him the fuck apart, when a calm voice from her beside her had lilted deeply into the air.

“No, Fangs. We’re going to the back.”

Cheryl had turned to see ‘Toni’ next to her, big brown eyes frowning at the _stupid_ boy before softening, locking with Cheryl’s.

“She was next, Fangs.” Toni had tugged him out of the line by the sleeve of his jacket, holding up an apologetic hand to her, “Sorry,” before retreating to the back with her grumbling companion.

Cheryl had been utterly stunned and just a little bit aroused.

The second instance had been in Mr Dullard’s history class when Toni had been passing her desk. She had bent down to retrieve a pen that Cheryl had dropped onto the floor moments ago and her soft pink curls had brushed against Cheryl’s arm, goosebumps erupting on the bare skin immediately. She had smelled of citrus and leather and as she’d looked down at Cheryl, standing to place the pen on her desk, she had smiled.

“Think you dropped this. I assume it’s yours, it’s got your name engraved on it.”

A small chuckle had left her full mouth and a dark little freckle just to the left of her top lip caught Cheryl’s gaze, her tongue suddenly dry and her words missing.

It was the first time she had seen her smile.

And holy _shit_.

She was the prettiest fucking thing Cheryl had ever seen.

_Control yourself._

“Thank you. I’m glad you didn’t steal it. You must be one of the very few _honest_ Serpents.” She had quipped back, the full venom of her voice dialled back considerably.

It had caused Toni to smile wider, her pretty eyes rolling in her head.

“You’re welcome.”

Pearly white teeth had crept from their confines to sink into her sumptuously chapped bottom lip and Cheryl had watched, finding herself completely without breath, her eyes trailing Toni’s back as she moved to take her seat.

And the rest, as was so suitably apt for the classroom in which she’d found herself, was **history**.

Cheryl had wanted to know her. Serpent or not, she had never felt such a palpable draw towards someone since her lovely Heather, and Cheryl wanted to _know_ her.

Thus, as she had stood in the doorway to their makeshift kingdom, her red war-paint smeared to her lips, she had decided that she would try to recruit this _Toni_ to the Vixens.

That way she would see her more frequently, she could get to know her, perhaps become _friends_ , get to drive her in her car and sit next to her, pressed _tightly_ against one another perhaps, in a booth at Pop’s without drawing curious attention from anyone and, more importantly, without causing suspicion from her mother as to why she would be spending so much time with a serpent and a _girl_ to boot.

“Well, well, Red. Finally realised you couldn’t stay away from all this Southside beef, huh?”

Cheryl had curled her lips into a sneer as the one she had only ever heard referred to as ‘Sweets’, stood his long body from the desk on which he had been sitting to slur his words at her.

The room had silenced, all eyes turning to her.

She had noticed, with an amused smirk, that each of them had foregone wearing their own tatty clothes and not a single Serpent insignia was in sight. Instead, hilariously, they were all adorned in various combinations of blue Riverdale High polo shirts and crisply pressed khakis. It had been truly laughable.

And it had appeared to sap them completely of all intimidation.

_Good_.

It’d seemed the Blossom’s _suggestion_ to Principal Weatherbee on restricting the Serpent’s behaviour had also extended to uniform.

Her smirk widened, the upper hand firmly _hers_.

“I suppose you thought that comment would sound rather slick, didn’t you? But it did not, unfortunately, even if you hadn’t been dressed like a Best Buy employee. Getting a feel for the uniform to prepare you for your bright future of _stacking shelves?_ ”

His hand had closed into a fist, a wry chuckle spilling from his mouth.

“You’ve gotta lotta nerve you fuckin’ preppy bitc-”

“Hey. Back _off_.” A raspy little voice had called from behind him, his temper ceasing with a Pavlovian immediacy.

_Toni_.

She’d stepped out from behind him, ushering him backward and turned to Cheryl, her tanned arms crossing over her chest.

“What do you want, Cheryl?”

Cheryl had simply stared.

Her pink hair had been curled to perfection, framing her lovely face as it tumbled over the blue shoulders of her polo shirt, the V neck and the tight front of the garment bestowing a thousand fucking blessings to the roundness of her chest. Her waist had dipped slimly into her khakis which gripped beautifully to the curves of her thighs and Cheryl had found herself slightly more than _just a little_ aroused this time.

Good Lord. _Toni’s_ intimidation was still _firmly_ intact.

Such a stark contrast from her usual attire had caught Cheryl’s attention vividly; however, she’d suddenly found herself very much missing the presence of a certain leather Serpent jacket.

**_Control yourself._ **

She’d cleared her throat, lips tugging tightly.

“Toni. Just the girl I wanted to see. I am here to present to you the opportunity to try-out for the River Vixens.”

The rapturous laughter from the others that had erupted in the room had come as no surprise to Cheryl and she had blocked it out, focussing solely instead on the small look of intrigue she’d spotted crossing Toni’s face.

Those delicious chapped lips had tilted at the corners.

“Seriously?”

Cheryl had raised a brow, grinning.

“Absolutely. And might I add that try-outs by _request_ are incredibly rare, but, try-outs by request of _me_ , are all but impossible to come by.”

Cheryl had watched Toni’s face light up and felt a surge of excitement pass over her.

‘Sweets’ had then taken it upon himself to pipe up again.

“Tiny wouldn’t want to join your shitty country club sorority if you fuckin’-”

Toni had clearly had enough, turning around to halt him with a dismissive hand.

“You don’t speak for me, Sweetpea.” She had glanced back at Cheryl, lips curling into smirk. “What’s in it for me?”

Cheryl hadn’t been able to stop the thrill which shot through her at the sheer _pleasure_ of being challenge by such a _worthy_ , **_fucking sexy_** , opponent.

Holy fuck.

“Well,” She’d started, leaning her shoulder against the doorframe, licking a red lip, “apart from the added bonus of having an extracurricular laden with gravitas on your college application,” She’d watched the interest in Toni’s eyes perk up, “Perhaps, if you felt so inclined as to at least just try-out for the squad,” Chery had draped her eyes over the uniforms in the room, dragging her gaze back to Toni, “I could have a word with Principal Weatherbee about loosening the reins on the dress code a little?”

Sweetpea had stood up, suddenly not so mocking anymore.

“What do you fuckin’ mean ‘have a word’? Why would he listen to you?”

Cheryl had rolled her eyes.

“My family are majority financial contributors to the school board; we have _much_ sway over Weatherbee and his decisions. A simple word from my sweet, maple-red lips and I could give you the _world_.” She’d purred, flicking her eyes back to Toni.

_Weatherbee can be bought, Cheryl._

“You really can get him to do that?” She’d asked.

“I can get him to do anything with a cheque and a whisper, Toni.” Cheryl had replied. “You poor, misinformed Serpents have no idea of the power I hold. When I say I run this school, I _mean_ it.”

_Weatherbee can be **bought**._

The room had been pin-drop silent, all eyes now turning expectantly to Toni.

Toni had seemed to mull over it for a moment, her eyes looking Cheryl up and down and a sly smirk lifting her mouth.

“Alright, fine. If you get Weatherbee to change his mind, I’ll do it.”

Cheryl’s heart had leapt, her stomach churning excitedly as she pushed away from the doorframe.

_Control yourself._

“Well then, Toni.” She had grinned, flipping her red curls over her shoulder as she’d turned to leave, “consider it _done_.”

 

 

 

 

Cheryl arrived home in the late evening feeling considerably lighter than usual.

After her enlightening and, frankly, _swoon worthy_ talk with Toni on her bed a week ago she had consulted the Blossom family doctor to put her in touch with a therapist.

Money, of course, being no object and perfection, of course, being an _obligation_ , Cheryl had selected the finest that she could find, within an hour’s drive, and with a deep, loving kiss and some supportive words from Toni, she had ventured off to her first session.

And Dear Lord what a relief.

She had 17 years of _shit_ to shovel, 17 years of second-best, 17 years of lacking _control_ , 17 years of struggling with love.

17 years of her _mother_.

The death of her father, the death of dear sweet JJ, the all-but death of Heather and the _almost_ death of herself.

Indeed, she certainly had _a lot._

And she knew there was much to come. She knew it would be arduous and long. But she thought of pink hair and a pretty smile and warm loving arms that wrapped themselves so perfectly around her and suddenly she was not so afraid anymore. She was willing to embark on this journey.

So for now, for today, for the _hour_ in which she had sat stiffly on a leather Eames chair and braved her insecurities, she had finally felt like maybe her path was opening up in front of her. Maybe she wasn’t so far away from finding that security, that stability that she craved.

For her future.

For _herself._

For **_Toni_**.

She wasn’t damaged goods.

She was in **control.**

She smiled lightly to herself at the thought of this as she trudged her heels daintily over the gravelled drive, the cooler evening breeze drifting through her hair as the setting sun bloodied the sky behind Thistlehouse and she realised something quite starkly beautiful.

She was happy.

She was fucking _happy_.

Cheryl Blossom was **happy** goddammit.

She turned her key, pushing the solid wood of the door with her shoulder, the warm smell of _home_ enveloping her, easing her muscles as she nudged the door closed and dropped her bag.

Coming _home._

She’d never felt like this about returning to any of her residences before. She’d never associated the thud of a wooden door with calm or serenity or _love_.

Something had changed.

Or rather, more specifically, _someone_ had changed and her red lips pulled into a soft grin, her heart speeding happily behind her ribs, as _that **someone**_ appeared at the top of the stairs, her pink curls bouncing wildly about her head as she jogged down the steps to meet her.

Cheryl’s arms were open for her before those neat little feet had even touched the floor.

They melded together easily, warm hands pressing and gripping in the usual, well-practiced positions and mouths worshipped each other with soft, lazy caresses, their lips slipping between each other as soft breaths became lost in the air between them.

_Coming home._

Cheryl felt a light tug to her lips as Toni pulled back from her, tanned thumbs stroking pale cheeks.

“How’d it go, Cher?”

God the way she looked at her was almost too much sometimes.

Cheryl held on to her sides a little tighter.

“It was good.” She murmured, eyes flicking to Toni’s lips as she nodded her head lightly. “It was really good, I cried.”

Toni’s eyes softened, an empathetic smile smudging her mouth.

“That’s _great,_ Cher.” She lauded, her voice whispered and soft.

Her eyes were so open, Cheryl noticed, so loving, all that they held within them was Cheryl. She could see it, staring back at her so clearly, Toni’s entire _vision_ compiled simply of her.

_‘You’re **everything** , Cher.’_

**_Coming home._ **

“I’m so proud of you, Cheryl.”

Cheryl leaned forward, pressing her lips in a soft peck to Toni’s, swallowing a constricting throat as she willed the tears away.

Happy tears, certainly.

But no need for crying now.

“Thank you, TT.” She whispered in return, sliding her hands down the length of Toni’s arms to squeeze her hands. “Where is Nana Rose? Does she want me to read to her before I have dinner?”

Toni’s smitten little smile slid its way into a knowing smirk as she brought Cheryl’s knuckles to meet her mouth in a soft kiss.

“She already went to bed. It was early but she said she was tired so I helped her, and then _I read to her_. And she said I was better than you.”

Cheryl’s red brows rose on her face, her eyes glancing up at the landing.

“You did? Toni that was very kind of you.” She looked back to her, reaching out a pale finger to run along Toni’s lower lip. “And I never knew that Serpents could read, I thought you were all just illiterate crooks and whores.”

The sound of Toni’s joyous laugh ringing out in the foyer sent a burst of contentment through Cheryl’s entire being, watching those big brown eyes crinkle at the edges and her hair cascading down her shoulders as she threw her head back.

God, _she_ was everything.

Cheryl broke out in a smile of her own.

“And I simply do _not_ believe that my Nana would say such a thing as to imply that she enjoyed your reading more than mine, you’re a liar, TT.”

Toni shook her head, a full kiss pressing to Cheryl’s cheek.

“It’s because I read her the dirty books, Cher. She says you’re a prude and you won’t read them.”

Cheryl gasped, a chuckle bubbling in her chest.

“She did _not_ say that. How dare you.”

“She did.”

“I am **not** a prude!”

“Well I know that, but I didn’t want to tell your _Nana_ that I had evidence to the contrary.”

Cheryl stared at her for a moment, their laughter subsiding.

Toni stared back, her thumb rubbing gentle circles into Cheryl’s palm.

‘ _You’re everything, Cher.’_

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Cheryl.”

“Let’s have dinner, shall we?”

**_Coming home._ **

 

 

 


	38. You Never Had It, Cheryl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Holy shit i've been so fucking busy. And so tired. Also, I had been wanting to get the content of this chapter out for a while but I just felt so damn uninspired as to how to do it. So here's hoping it's as good as I could've made it. Angsty feels and all that, but honestly some important shit for both of them that I feel touches on the messy nature of adult human relationships. Especially between such emotionally complex characters. Enjoy folks! Comment if you like, Peace out.
> 
> PS - Ariana Grande is correct, God truly is a woman, and that sentiment is 100% canon for this piece.

 

 

 

Cheryl could feel that the air had shifted.

Not profoundly, nor even much, but _noticeably_ … she was sure of it.

She ran her gaze through the crack in the hinges of her bathroom door, draping them over Toni as she sat upon _their_ bed, her hair pulled back into a ponytail, curled, pink tendrils sweeping forward to kiss her cheeks – and why _wouldn’t_ they – her neat little legs tucked crossed beneath her.

**_Coming home._ **

An utter _angel_.

God herself no doubt couldn’t wait to have her back.

No doubt it was the reason Cheryl herself felt so like Lucifer, ready to be forever damned and tossed from the heavens.

She turned back to the bleached porcelain of her sink, turning the tap with her long fingers.

She was waiting for it.

An impending question ticking slowly through the cogs of Toni’s mind, working its way to her mouth.

Cheryl was _waiting_ for it.

She glanced at her reflection in the crisp light of her bathroom mirror and sighed, running her fingers through the curls of her hair.

_You’re in control, Cheryl._

But then why did everything feel so tenuous?

She licked her bare lips, pressing her pale fingers to the light switch and eclipsing herself into darkness with a sharp ‘click’, padding her feet to the bed.

Toni hadn’t moved an inch.

“Did you have a good evening?” Cheryl murmured softly, the dark night outside the window and the dim light of her bedroom creating a soft reverie in the quiet of Thistlehouse that she wished not to break through with too loud of a voice.

Toni nodded, glancing at her.

“You’ve asked me that three times already, Cher.”

Cheryl felt the need to refrain from answering.

A silence rested over them.

It was imminent, that damned question, she could _feel_ it.

She squeezed some lotion into the palm of her hand, rubbing it smoothly into her arms as she took a dainty seat onto her side of the bed, watching carefully from the side of her eye as Toni picked at the blanket with her fingers.

She reached over habitually to wipe the surplus lotion from her hands into Toni’s thigh, debating inside her head if a kiss to the cheek would be so involved as to break Toni from her thoughts and spur the _question_.

But she spied soft skin on rounded cheekbones and refused to deny herself the sheer pleasure.

“Goodnight, Toni.”

The side of Toni’s mouth met hers with no objection and she pulled back to turn off the lamp on her nightstand.

_Almost home and dry, Cheryl._

She turned, pulling the sheet over her body as she laid her head to the pillow and closed her eyes, the light of Toni’s lamp blazing through her eyelids.

She opened her mouth to instruct her to turn it off, as she had had to on so many nights after awaking to it in the morning _still turned on,_ when Toni’s voice beat her to the punch.

Soft, guarded.

“What did Jughead mean, Cher?”

And there it was.

That damned question.

Fuck.

They had spent the evening at Pop’s with their friends, Cheryl slipping her father’s prized bourbon into their milkshakes under the table – except her own, of course, she had the precious cargo of her girlfriend to drive home – and the evening had turned from light conversation to the inevitable ‘ _Jughead Jones Show’_ with all ears and participants tuned towards him as he drunkenly slurred his conspiracies.

Cheryl had hoped that the table were all at equal levels of inebriation so as to ignore or forget his words, and most had been, save for Toni, who appeared to be sober and alert and, unfortunately, _listening._

 “I don’t know what you’re talking about, TT.” She sighed, “Please don’t forget to turn off your lamp when you-”

“When Jug talked about Principal Weatherbee using bribe money to buy the new camera equipment for the Blue and Gold at school?”

Cheryl stiffened slightly beneath the Egyptian cotton.

 _Fuck_.

“I don’t know, TT. I know nothing about Weatherbee.”

She cursed herself for her hurried response.

So clearly a lie.

_Only **fools** rush in, Cheryl._

She felt Toni’s weight shift towards her on the bed and could almost _hear_ her brow creaking into a frown.

**_‘I can get him to do anything with a cheque and a whisper, Toni.’_ **

**_Fuck._ **

“Well, I mean, that’s not true… is it?” Toni inquired, her voice seemingly confused.

Cheryl would consider it adorable under different circumstances.

“You said you could get Weatherbee to do anything, Cheryl.”

Fuck fuck _fuck_.

Cheryl paused, her mouth suddenly dry.

“Turn off your light before you go to sleep please.”

An utterly feeble attempt to end the conversation, bordering on embarrassing.

Understandably, Toni remained un-rebuffed, placing a warm hand to Cheryl’s shoulder as she leaned over to turn on Cheryl’s bedside lamp.

“Cher, talk to me please.”

Fuck.

“About what, TT?” She huffed, refusing to turn around until Toni’s hand coaxed her onto her back, a defensive frown pinching at her red brows. “Jughead is always spouting nonsense about authority figures, I have no-”

“Cheryl you _said_ that you run that school and that you run Weatherbee too. Don’t lie to me.”

Cheryl was stunned into silence.

“TT…”

Toni shifted onto her knees, peeling her hand from Cheryl’s shoulder.

“No. I want to know, Cheryl.” Her voice was rising worryingly. “You tell me just _weeks_ after we’ve met that you can control Weatherbee and that _your family_ make financial donations to manipulate the way that he runs the school and then suddenly, **now** , he _has a bunch_ of money to spend on camera shit.”

Cheryl raked her eyes over Toni’s face, the frustration behind her pretty eyes emitting its burning glow.

**_‘I can get him to do anything with a cheque and a whisper, Toni.’_ **

Fuck.

Cheryl pressed her lips together.

Toni watched.

“And all just in time for me and the Serpents to get our expulsion revoked…”

Cheryl wasn’t sure by her tone if Toni had come to said conclusion in that very moment or if perhaps she had suspected it for a while, but either way, she knew that her time was up.

_Busted, Cheryl Blossom._

“Cher.” Toni said stoically, a glint of hope still floating in her eyes, seemingly not _quite_ convinced, not _quite_ willing to believe it until she’d heard it for certain. “Did you bribe him?”

Fuck.

Cheryl sat up, her fingers pushing her long hair from her face as she watched Toni’s demeanour change.

“TT, I-”

“You _did_ , didn’t you?” Toni’s voice was whispered now, disbelieving, indignant.

Cheryl’s heart began to pound.

“Toni,” She implored, her eyes searching Toni’s confused face as the features began to screw with exponential anger, the long seconds ticking by to the metronome of Cheryl’s clock.

_Tell her the truth, Little Bird._

“Toni…. I did it for _us._ ”

The air rushed from Toni’s lips, two perfect little hands flopping dejectedly onto the bed as her suspicions were confirmed. She shook her head, beginning to turn away when Cheryl reached out to grab her arm, pulling her gaze back to focus.

“TT, listen to me.” Cheryl said lowly, desperation starting to creep its spidery claws up her spine as she forced Toni to look her in the eye, “I did this so that we could be together, ok? I told you that I would fix it and I _did_.”

A lump fixed itself into her throat heavily as the frustration in Toni’s eyes had dulled to an apathetic numbness.

_Stay in control, Cheryl._

**_Did you ever have control?_ **

She took a shuddering breath, tugging at Toni’s limp arms.

“TT, I didn’t think you’d have any objection to it. You didn’t seem to care when you suspected it was the Serpents.” She insisted, reaching up a hand to take Toni’s cheek in her palm, panic settling in her stomach as Toni pulled away.

“The Serpents are _criminals_ , Cheryl.” She deadpanned into her lap, lifting her head eventually to meet Cheryl’s gaze with vacant eyes.

“Toni-”

“I don’t give a fuck that you bribed him, Cheryl. I don’t care what you or your family do at that school. I care that you _lied_ to me.”

Cheryl’s chest tightened, her fingers reaching for Toni’s hands only to be pushed away.

_Jesus Christ, Cheryl._

_What have you ruined **now**?_

_You can destroy things even when you think you’re saving them._

_Did you ever have control, Cheryl?_

**_You’ve never been in control._ **

She fought for words, her mouth opening as Toni swooped in to speak again.

“Yes you did, Cheryl.” She sighed, rubbing her eyes with her fingers as she shook her head, “You lied. And before you try to use all your fancy rich people educated words to confuse me and convince me that you didn’t, you _did_. You kept it from me and you lied by omission. You kept this from me for so long.” She looked up, tired. “And you’re still lying. You’re lying to my face _right now_ telling me you ‘didn’t think I’d have any objection.’ If that was true, Cheryl. If that was really _true_ you’d have told me about it, because we’re supposed to _communicate with each other_.’

**_Communication is key._ **

Tears began to sting at Cheryl’s eyes, a guilt she hadn’t known she’d been repressing suddenly cloaking itself over her back.

Toni was hardly wrong. She’d even told Weatherbee to keep his mouth shut.

**_‘This remains anonymous. My name is not to be mentioned to any of them. Least of all her.’_ **

“Toni. It kept us together. That’s all that matters surely? I just couldn’t bear to lose you, TT. It doesn’t change _anything_.”

Toni scoffed, her brows knitting together in mirthless indignation.

“You really think that, Cheryl? That it changes _nothing?_ Do you ever actually look outside of the sphere of yourself?”

Her words cut deep, not least of all because Cheryl knew them to be true.

They weren’t meant to harm, she was sure of it, but they held intent of some kind.

“You used your money, Cheryl. Your inheritance. You just threw away a bunch of your _own_ money like that.”

Cheryl now drew back in shock, a frown of her own matching Toni’s.

Surely that was a _good_ thing? A _selfless_ thing?

Something one might do when _looking outside of the sphere of themselves._

“Threw it away?” She whispered, wiping a frustrated hand to the tear that fell to her cheek, “Toni how can you say that? It _saved_ you. It saved **us**.” She sniffed, blinking rapidly, “And I can do whatsoever that I _wish_ to with my money thank you very much.”

Toni rolled her eyes, scooting further away from her on the bed.

“You saved me, huh, Cher?” She grunted, rubbing at her eye with the heel of her hand as she sucked in a tired sigh. “You know… is this how it’s always gonna be with us? Huh? You ‘ _saving the day’_ with your fortune and throwing money at every problem you encounter and then there’s me, the poor little trailer park girlfriend, dragging along behind, **_indebted_** to you. Is that what it’s going to be like?”

Cheryl’s mouth slackened in surprise.

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

From Toni. Of all people. Her sweet little Toni.

Chery knew that she was a red-headed handful, she knew that she held copious Blossom baggage to be hefted along with her, and she knew that Toni had been exposed to more than a lifetime’s worth of emotional labour at her expense but Toni had to understand that money was all that Cheryl _knew._ It was the single most effective cause, and paradoxical solution, to any issue she could foresee.

It was all **she** _knew_.

_‘Do you ever look outside of the sphere of yourself?’_

Or perhaps she was wrong.

Perhaps she had pushed Toni too far this time. The girl was strong-willed and put up a fight at the best of times but with Cheryl, she took the shit. She took the whining and the tears and the insecurities and the behaviour that would send most people running.

Perhaps Cheryl had simply just pushed her too far.

_You’re the straw that breaks every camel’s back, Cheryl Blossom._

_And you never **had control**_.

She swallowed, watching as Toni stared disinterestedly at the wall.

“TT, you know that’s not true. You know I’d never do that. If you’re saying these things to hurt me I-”

Toni’s attention was snatched immediately, her eyes brightening in offense.

“You think I’d say things just to _hurt you_ , Cheryl?” She whispered, her eyes flicking over the blankets, “I can’t believe you’d even _say_ that, I-”

She moved to step from the bed and Cheryl’s stomach lurched, pushing the sheet from her pale legs.

“No, Toni. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking, I know you wouldn’t. Please, TT. Just look at me.”

**_You were NEVER in control, Cheryl._ **

**_You never had any fucking control._ **

Toni stopped, standing at the edge of the bed.

Cheryl blinked the tears from her eyes, balling the covers into her palm.

“Toni, please. I don’t understand. I did this for _us_. The bribe, the _money_ , was just for that, TT. It doesn’t mean _any_ more than **that**.”

Her voice finished in a croaky husk, her throat constricting tightly as each poisonous word resounded through her head with the panicked beating of her heart.

**_Never_ **

“Toni, please…”

**_Had_ **

“…just come back to bed.”

**_Control._ **

Toni’s shoulders slumped, her petite frame casting a pitifully small figure over the bed in the silhouette of the lamp light.

“Yeah. That about sums it up huh, Cher?” She rasped softly with a solemn nod of her head, “You just really don’t understand.”

Cheryl looked to her eyes, shifting closer across the bed to her and caught the unfamiliar sight of sadness in them, a deep, hollow pit of resigned _defeat_.

**_You did that to her._ **

She hated it.

It made her stomach sick and her heart ache painfully in her chest.

She never wanted to see such a thing in those lovely eyes.

“Toni, what do you mean? Tell me, please?”

Toni pressed her lips together, a thickness bobbing in her throat and Cheryl cursed the upbringing that had beaten Toni into the relentless instinct of stopping her own tears.

“Of course it means more than that. It means that that letter that Weatherbee wrote, to my grandpa, the one that said I was worth a fucking damn at that school. The one that said I was doing so damn well. That said I had a fucking _future_ here. That I could actually be of _help_ to you. It means that _you_ made him write that. It means that he only said all that stuff because of you and your damn money, Cheryl.” She sighed, looking to the floor with a stiffened jaw, “It means I’m not here because I _should_ be, because I **deserve** to be. It means that a serpent and an _underprivileged basket case_ like me still has no place in the Northside. Or anywhere. It means it’s all _bullshit_.”

Cheryl’s heart shattered.

_Look what you’ve **done** to her._

**_You did this to her._ **

She crawled across to Toni, flipping her red hair over her shoulder as it stuck to her wet face and sat up on her knees to look at her.

Fallen angel.

“Toni. Stop. Stop it, you know that isn’t true, ok? You are _all_ those things that he said you are, do you understand? That’s _why_ I told him to write it. Because you _are_.”

Toni watched her, eyes so profoundly dimmed that Cheryl felt the breath leave her chest, her words clearly solidifying the fearful assumptions in Toni’s mind.

She took a step back from the bed, the steady rise and fall of her little chest the only animate part of her.

“You lied, Cher.” She croaked quietly, looking up to meet her eyes. “You lied to me. I trusted you, that we were a _partnership_ together and you _lied_.” She cleared her throat, a breath shuddering as it was forcefully sucked into her chest. “I thought you weren’t like that anymore.”

Cheryl felt the tips of her fingers run cold, a numbness tingling up and down her arms as Toni’s words hit her ears, closing them off to nothing but white noise.

Had she really said that?

_You **never** had her, Cheryl._

**_And you never had control._ **

“Pardon?” She whispered in disbelief, tears running liberally over her cheeks, dripping from her chin to stain the subtle pink of her nightgown below. “You said you never wanted to change me, TT.”

Toni rolled her neck, refusing now to share Cheryl’s gaze.

“I don’t, Cher. But you were making a breakthrough for yourself. You were making changes for yourself. And I was there for that, I wanted to support you in that. You were taking control.”

**_Never had it, Cheryl._ **

**_Never will._ **

Cheryl stood quickly from the bed, wiping hurriedly at her eyes as she watched the watery figure of Toni move to collect her jacket from the closet, slipping her feet into her scuffed up sneakers.

God no, please.

“TT, we can talk about this.” She all but begged, hand clutched into the chest of her silk gown.

“I’m sure we will, Cheryl. But not tonight. I can’t tonight.”

God _no_.

“Where are you going, Toni?”

The desperate sobs were begging for release and she held them down with sharp breaths, a flush heating over her skin.

“I’ll try Veronica’s for tonight. I just… can’t be here right now, I hope you understand that.” She murmured, stuffing her phone into her pocket.

_One last ditch attempt to make her stay, Cheryl._

_Don’t let her go without a fight._

“Toni, please. Stay, I _love_ you.”

Toni sighed, her feet pacing to the door.

“And I love you, Cheryl. I really do. More than anything I’ve ever fucking loved. _Seriously_. I have **never** felt love like this. And I thought that was what you needed, what _we needed_. But this, I don’t know, Cher. I don’t know that I’m the right person to help you become who you are. I keep throwing up these obstacles in your life that cause you shit and you don’t need that right now. So, perhaps… we need some time apart.” She let out a deep breath, her eyes screwing up in a well-practised attempt to stop herself from crying. “I don’t know, Cher. I just… I don’t know. I don’t want to be in the way of your growth. You need security and stability and I need honesty. Maybe we just aren’t ready right now.”

**Security.**

**Stability.**

**_‘You’re everything, Cheryl.’_ **

Before Cheryl could cough the tears from her throat Toni had rounded the door.

“Cher, please. Don’t follow me, ok?”

Cheryl was sure she heard a choked sniff from the doorway as pink hair fluttered out of sight and the resounding thud of the front door eventually swung through the house.

Cold.

Hollow.

_You never had control._

**_You never had it, Cheryl._ **

 

 

 


	39. I'm Not Listening To You Anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well well well, some of you reallllly don't like conflict huh? hahahahaha full disclosure I wrote the first part of this chapter, the flashback, before I wrote the last chapter (ch. 38). I debated putting it in before the last one because I reference some of the dialogue (so look out for that the intellectuals among you, I know you're out there in the comments) etc and it gives a little more perspective on Toni's side of things but in the end I decided that with all the flashbacks and fluff that had come before, the pacing felt better to do it this way. So maybe this will clear some shit up. Also, as I said, I wrote this before the fight and I noted in some comments that Toni was seen to be 'overreacting.' which had me lolling to myself because I use that exact word in the flashback in this chapter. I thought about changing it etc but decided just to keep it so please be aware that it was already part of the piece and is not meant as direct shade to those of you who critiqued Toni hahahaahaha. For real. Speaking of that, however, as I have mentioned on many occasions I don't like to explain away my work, it just is what it is, but I will repeat something I said in the comments which is that Toni in this fic may not correlate to everyone's ideal view of her because I don't want her to function purely as Cheryl's 'Yes-man' support system. I want her to be her own character with her own dimensions and that includes flaws, so I suppose what I'm saying is, Toni isn't perfect, so let's enjoy that. Anyway, I will forewarn you all and say that the flashback does get a little political, whether or not these are my personal views is redundant, just know that they ARE Toni's views and THAT is why they are in the fic, not for my own agenda. Also, for those of you who didn't like Toni's reaction/the conflict...... I'm not sure you're ready for a Scuff sequel yet hahahaa, based on the ideas I have queued up in my head to write, just sayin', might need to back-burner that, what do we think?  
> So! Thank you so so much once again for all the amazing comments and kudos and fucking lovely things you guys feedback to me, so grateful, sorry for the long notes here, but here's a nice long chapter for you to enjoy! Peace out x

 

 

 

 

“And that is why I stand here before you tonight, to implore you and your parents to think about the reality of Riverdale’s future, our beloved school’s future and, most importantly, _your_ future. We are not afraid to be accused of clichés and to state that, _truly,_ your vote **counts**. Your voice **matters.** The re-election of my mother Sierra McCoy as Mayor of our abundant and resilient town can be surmised in just two words: family and industry. The first is without doubt the most important to her campaign and…”

Cheryl had watched Josie seep charisma into the lawn of the football field from her position on the podium, her slender frame standing ram-rod straight as she lilted the speech her mother had _clearly_ written for her into the microphone, the entire crowd enraptured by her words. 

The election had been a hot topic for everyone, an invested interest for both North and, the usually politically apathetic, Southsiders due to the very recent Southside High closure and Hiram Lodge’s desire to develop a prison on the newly liberated land.

The Serpents had still been new to the school, by _exactly_ 23 days Cheryl had counted, and the Northsiders had still been wary of the shift in the air.

Oh the times, most certainly, had been a-changing.

Everyone had seemed to have an opinion.

Excluding Cheryl, that was. She had given the exact sum total of no fucks.

She had always been told by her parents that municipal dealings were beneath them,

 _“Local Politics is the worry of the middle classes, Cheryl, and the fateful lottery of the working scum.”_ Her father had once drawled blithely to her through the smoke of a Cohiba cigar. “ _If it’s not your problem, it doesn’t exist.”_

So long as one had money, a mayor was simply a figurehead, sculpted from financial clay to be moulded to whichever shape the rich desired.

Thusly, with her Blossom money, Cheryl gave no fucks.

However, uncaring of the result or not, Cheryl had been no fool. She had known that Mayor McCoy was in cahoots with Principal Weatherbee _and_ the Latin Stallions of the Lodge family - who had sat proudly in the front row of the bleachers - honoured guests come to witness the performance of their River Vixen daughter at the evening’s pep rally. Cheryl had found it notable that there had been no Southside representation there, despite the fact that many Southside students had been in attendance after having been torn from their school merely three weeks prior. The puppetry of using Josie as Mayor McCoy’s spokesperson to win over the votes and the filibuster technique of such a specious speech to drown out the voice of Fred Andrews or any Southside opponent had not been lost on Cheryl.

Still, intelligent observation did not equal interest.

**_If it’s not your problem, it doesn’t exist._ **

No, certainly, Cheryl had been far more interested in the Vixen’s newest recruit, inducted just five days before after a _flawless,_ and frankly fucking erotic, audition that had left Cheryl smirking all the way to bed that night.

A bed in which she’d slept _very well._

She had been glancing at, said new recruit, Toni throughout the entire speech, flicking her eyes over the adorable little cheer uniform she had been wearing for the first time and had felt herself shifting restlessly on the side lines, her hands eager to _touch_ and her eyes desperate to catch a closer glimpse at Toni’s lips.

She had watched as Toni stood a few yards down from her, leaning against the bleachers, her face stony and unimpressed, as she had crossed her tanned little arms over her chest, murmuring conspiratorially with Jughead who had been stood behind her, his features equally as unconvinced.

Cheryl had wondered if perhaps she could make an excuse to straighten Toni’s ponytail and borrow herself a few seconds to linger her hands in her hair, maybe fix her skirt if she’d allow it and let Cheryl ease any last minute nerves she had about her first performance with the Vixens.

Yes, she had thought, as she wandered her eyes over the round chest protruding over Toni’s crossed arms and the smooth tendons tugging through the skin of her tanned, slender neck that was just _begging_ to have Cheryl’s beautiful teeth sunken into it, _yes_ , she should definitely find an excuse to approach her.

So, Cheryl had stepped back, shuffling her way through the crowd to stand a few paces behind her, taking in the gorgeous sight of brown, toned legs and a tiny waist around which she had dreamt of wrapping her pale hands but had not yet had the pleasure to touch.

God _touch_.

**_Control yourself, Cheryl._ **

She had gripped a red lip between her teeth, careful not to smudge it, and edged closer to where Toni was standing.

“Which brings us to industry,” Josie’s spiel had continued in the background, foggy to Cheryl’s ears over the sound of blood rushing fiercely through her head as she’d thought about how _goddamn **good**_ that pink hair would smell, “The exciting development of the new prison complex on the Southside will provide both commerce and jobs in unprecedented numbers …”

Cheryl had taken another step closer, her eyes piercing sharply into the pleats of Toni’s cheer skirt as it bowed enticingly over her backside.

Her lips had parted, staged to announce her presence.

God she just wanted to reach out and _grab-_

“This is _bullshit._ ”

She had heard Toni hiss the words, pushed out of the side of her curled mouth to Jughead as he’d nodded in agreement.

Cheryl had stopped, ears perked.

“Total fucking _bullshit_ , Jug. Look around, it’s all Northsiders deciding the fate of the Southside. There’s not one person here to speak for us. They’ve already taken our school, and our drive-in, our library, they’re taking all the fucking jobs and the money and the education and the trailer park will be next. They’ll wanna knock it down and gentrify that shit.” Toni had whispered, a desperation misting into the controlled anger of her tone.

Cheryl had shifted on her feet as Toni continued.

“Then they’ll finally have gotten rid of us.”

Cheryl had watched as Jughead had pressed his lips together, his eyes darting back and forth between Toni and the podium.

“But how can they do that, Toni? Where are the Southsiders going to go?” He’d whispered in return.

Toni had scoffed, drawing a few momentarily glances of attention.

“Isn’t it _obvious_ , Jones? I’d have thought you’d have seen right through it. The _prison_. They’re not building it to give us _jobs_ , they’re gonna put us _in_ it. The Serpents happen to be a thorn in Weatherbee’s side, a problem for McCoy’s perfect crime stats and Hiram Lodge’s biggest fucking competition. They want us _gone_ , Jughead. This is what happens in this fucking country. The rich, they come and invade native property, they take it from the Uktena, and they make us _pay_ to live on land that is rightfully ours. They take away our livelihoods and our money and our homes and our infrastructure until we’re so goddamn poor and underprivileged that they either swoop in to ‘save’ us by throwing _more_ money at the problem and **controlling** what happens to us or, like we’re seeing happen right in front of our fucking _eyes_ Jug, they prime us for a future in the industrial prison complex. They’re just waiting for us to churn outta school so they can lock us up in their facilities and perpetuate modern day slave labour.”

Cheryl’s brow had perked into a disbelieving frown.

Surely not?

This all sounded like the ravings of some Communist rally.

But then, she had been brought up in such a privileged bubble, so proud to be a Blossom, how could she know the truth of history and it’s propensity to repeat itself?

**_If it’s not your problem, it doesn’t exist._ **

Toni had heaved a sigh, lowering her voice once more.

“It’s a tale as old as the fucking Constitution and manifest destiny, Jones. It’s _always_ the poor. Mostly racial minorities too. Good, honest, hardworking people, usually natives. These goddamn fat cat, rich, Northside bastards just throw money at any problem they see. They don’t think, they don’t talk, they don’t _listen_. They just use their fucking fortunes to sweep everything under the carpet.  To hide their shame. And goddammit it all if the Southside isn’t the fucking _shame_ of Riverdale. We’re powerless. _‘Your voice **matters** ’.” _She had mocked, repeating Josie’s words in disgust, “What if you don’t have a fucking voice? They just do what they want with us like we’re fucking dolls. No rights, no equality, no future.”

Toni had turned then, her eyes pooling with worry as she gazed up at Jughead’s face.

“These changes, Jug. They’re not to unite us, they’re to finally show us Southsiders that we don’t belong. That we never will.”

She had turned back to the field, her petite throat moving sickly with a swallow.

“And they’re all in it together. With their **_lies_** and dishonesty. For tax breaks and bribes and white collar bullshit crime that always goes unpunished. Whilst we get stopped on the street for drug searches or weapons as a matter of daily _routine_. I’m so fucking **sick** of it, Jughead. Disregarding the Southside as nothing but the _scum_ that they’ve always seen us to be, going over our heads with decisions about _our_ futures and all for fucking **money**.” 

“So please, remember to vote for McCoy for Mayor in this election. We’re doing this for _you._ We’re doing this for _us_. We’re doing this for the _future_. To keep us together. And that’s all that matters surely?”

The crowd had erupted into rapturous applause as Josie had sounded off, and Cheryl had taken it as a signal to brush all talk of political corruption and social inequalities from her mind.

**_If it’s not your problem, it doesn’t exist._ **

She’d pushed her way a few paces closer, her heart thumping loudly in her ears as she reached out her long, pale fingers, the pads tingling with anticipation as they finally pressed into Toni’s warm back, the heat seeping greedily through Cheryl’s body.

**_Touch_.**

She had tugged her red lips into a grin, rubbing her hand in small, soothing circles over Toni’s shoulder as she’d come to rest next to her.

“Well,” She’d chirped, flicking her eyes over Toni’s face, watching the pinched look on her freckled features soften somewhat. God those chapped lips looked so sumptuous in the brightness of the floodlights. **_Dear God_** Cheryl had wanted to know so _badly_ what it would feel like to have them pressed to hers. “I’m certainly glad that those dull formalities are over, aren’t you?”

She had reluctantly torn her eyes from Toni’s to glance at Jughead, who had remained there like a rock on a riverbed, raising a red brow to him.

“Run along, Jones, and find a good seat for the Vixen’s performance or you’ll miss our beloved Betty stomping her Golem limbs about the field.” She’d clipped with a false sweetness, waving a dismissive hand, “Wouldn’t want that now, chop chop.”

Rolling his eyes, he had left with a few parting words to Toni, promising to continue their conversation later and Cheryl had moved to stand in front of her, hands reaching up to spritz the pink curls that fell about her pretty face.

“So,” Cheryl had murmured, “are you excited for your first performance? I know you only had a few days to practice but, honestly, you’re far more talented than any of those other _amateurs_. And there’s a full squad out there tonight so no one will notice if you take a misstep, not that I think you even possibly _could._ ”

Toni had sighed, pressing her lips together.

“Bombshell…”

“So you have _nothing_ to worry about. And God, _please_ tell me you’re going to wear your hair like this more often, Toni, I absolutely adore it. Although, allow me to just tweak your ponytail.”

She had stepped closer, wrapping her hands around Toni’s head to fasten the hair more tightly with a gentle tug, revelling in the feel of the soft, fluffy strands against the skin of her fingers and watching as Toni took a deep breath.

“Now, would you like me help with your skirt? If you’ll let me, Toni, I can just make a few minute adjustments around the _back-_ ”

“Cheryl.”

She had stopped, pulling her hands back.

“Oh,” She’d nodded, “well it looks presentable as it is so not to worry.”

_Dammit._

**_Control yourself, Cheryl._ **

Toni had shaken her head, running her hands absentmindedly over the back of her own skirt.

_Goddamn lucky hands._

**_Cheryl…_ **

“No, Cheryl it’s not that.” Toni had sighed softly, glancing around her at the crowd before meeting Cheryl’s eyes. They seemed distant, almost regretful.

Oh god.

“Look Cheryl,” She’d continued, wringing her fingers together in front of her. “Thank you. For this, for the spot on the River Vixens and welcoming me in and shit but, tonight, Cheryl… I’m sorry, I can’t do it.”

Cheryl had frowned, softening her eyes.

“Oh Toni, everyone feels like this before their first Pep Rally,” She’d chuckled lightly, pushing her lips into an empathetic pout, “You’ll love it once you’re out there in front of everyone, I promise you.”

Toni had blinked slowly a few times, letting out a slow breath through her nose.

“No, Cheryl. It’s not what you think. I feel… honestly, kinda sickened.”

Cheryl had rolled her eyes playfully, flipping her red hair back from her shoulder with elegant ease.

“That’s just nerves, Toni. I remember when I used to get nervous. I must have been maybe 3, 4 years old…” She’d sighed wistfully, “but I have antacids you can take for that, I’ll have Ginger fetch them for you.”

“No,” Toni had insisted, taking a small step backward, her eyes looking up at Cheryl with such regret that it almost made Cheryl herself feel sickened, “Cheryl, I’m so sorry. I really am. I was so stoked for tonight. And I don’t want to let you down. But like you said, there’s a full squad and no one will notice I’m not there I just…” She’d shaken her head, “After hearing that speech about Mayor McCoy. Knowing all the shit they’re doing to the Southside. I… I can’t go out there and pretend I’m ok with it. I can’t go out and celebrate and support something that I’m opposed to. I can’t, Cheryl. I’m sorry.”

Cheryl had let her mouth fall open slightly, confusion tinting her brow.

Was she being serious?

“Toni,” She’d started, a dry chuckle leaving her chest, “It’s just a Pep Rally. You’re just cheering on a football field. I don’t understand, it doesn’t mean anything more than that.”

**_If it’s not your problem, it doesn’t exist._ **

Toni had sighed yet again, heavier this time.

“I thought you might say that.” She’d murmured, glancing at Cheryl sadly, “Honestly, Cheryl, it’s not your fault, but I wouldn’t expect you to understand. But, to _me_ , for what I believe in, it kinda is more than that.”

Cheryl had watched as Toni had reached up to pull the hair tie from her head, her pink curls cascading over her shoulders.

“Cheryl, I’m sorry. I am. But I can’t.”

Cheryl had blinked, at a loss for words.

“Toni with all due respect, I think you’re overreacting.”

Toni had nodded, rolling the hair band over her wrist and stretching it idly with her fingers.

“Right, overreacting.” She’d repeated quietly, “Look, genuinely, Cheryl. I’m sorry. But this is how I feel. So, I guess good luck out there tonight. And if you’ll have me back, I’ll see you at Vixen’s practice tomorrow.”

Cheryl had fought the desire to let her face fall, watching as Toni turned away from her slowly, trudging her little feet across the field to the locker room, her gaze fixed firmly to her shoes.

“Hey, Cher. You good to go, girl? The Pussycats are ready when you are.” Josie had chipped from behind her, a smooth hand tugging on her pale arm.

Cheryl had taken one last look at Toni’s retreating back before setting a firm grin to her face, turning around and wiping her mind clear once again.

She had leaned into Josie and linked their arms, quirking a sleek eyebrow.

“When I am not, Josie? When am I not?”

**_If it isn’t your problem, it doesn’t exist._ **

****

****

****

****

 

Cheryl had awoken at two o’clock in the afternoon, her eyes swollen from the pressure of tears and her head thumping and heavy.

She hadn’t been able to find rest, for a good hour at least, after Toni had left her the night before, the words of their fight echoing around her head and the conspicuous absence of her girlfriend - if she even _had_ one anymore – twitching at her limbs and preventing her from even managing to cry herself to sleep.

Eventually, she had hefted her weighty carcass to Toni’s side of the bed, wrapping her slim body around her pillow and nuzzling her nose into the plush fabric, the unmistakably earthen citrus fragrance of Toni Topaz sprouting forth like a potent Bergamot tree, wrapping itself around her and rustling her into an eventual slumber.

She had groaned, the afternoon light buffered by the thickness of her curtains still assaulting the dehydrated brain behind her eyes, and fought the tears that had threatened to resurface as the reality of the night before struck her afresh.

She’d been adamant with herself that _she_ would **not** be the first to make contact. Toni had chosen to walk out and leave her and Toni had chosen not to resolve this last night and, so, she figured that _Toni_ should be the one to make the first move.

After exactly 67 minutes, Cheryl had caved, sending out a text and making peace with herself for her lack of willpower.

Now, however, as she sat in the kitchen of Thistlehouse, her gown wrapped tightly across her chest and her knees cradled tightly to it, she was beginning panic.

It was nearing ten o’clock in the evening, the deafening ticking of the kitchen clock reminding her of the late hour with irritating efficiency.

She hadn’t replied.

She hadn’t even seen the messages.

And she hadn’t returned home.

Toni was gone.

_No, Cheryl, don’t think like that, we aren’t thinking like **that** anymore, remember?_

**_Everyone you love leaves you, Cheryl._ **

She squeezed her eyes shut, sucking in a tight breath and let it out slowly, opening her eyes to reach out a shaking hand and lift her cup to her lips.

_Take control, Cheryl._

**_You’ve never had control._ **

She hunched her body over the table, flicking through her outgoing messages.

_15:09 - ‘I am awake. Come home and talk. X ’_

_17:34 – ‘Text me when you receive this, we need to talk. x’_

_18:56 – ‘Do not ignore me, TT.’_

_19:42 – ‘TT come home now.’_

_21:12 – ‘Toni this is childish. Reply.’_

_21:28 – ‘Come home.’_

She sat back, blinking her puffy eyes and gripping her fingers into the steaming cup in her hand.

God did she really not _care **at all**_?

Did Toni not care that she was doing this to her?

This couldn’t be it.

It _couldn’t_ be.

They’d had a fight.

Just a fight.

A painful, intimate fight, but nothing more than they could resolve between themselves.

Nothing more than any other couple had ever had.

This **_couldn’t_** be it.

**_Everyone you love leaves you, Ch-_ **

“Oh shut **up**.” She muttered aloud, running a hand through her hair and letting it drop to the wood of the table with a frustrated thump.

She sniffed.

It couldn’t be it.

**_Well then why hasn’t she come home, Cheryl?_ **

“Stop it.”

**_Perhaps she’s with someone else, Cheryl? Moved on already. Wrapped up in pleasure with another lover._ **

She screwed up her eyes, teeth clenching hard.

“ _Stop.”_

**_Or maybe she’s lying dead by the side of the road somewhere, Cheryl? Drunk and sad and ploughed down by a speeding car._ **

“No, _stop **it**_.”

**_Maybe snatched by some Ghoulies and dragged off into the woods, Cheryl. Left for dead. Your pathetic texts reaching nothing but the stiffness of the cold, dead hand in which she’d clasped her phone with her last breath._ **

She swallowed, her stomach swirling with nauseous anxiety.

**_She’s gone, Cheryl. She’s yours no longer._ **

She took a slow, deliberate breath, puffing her cheeks and straightening her spine, remembering the sound advice of her therapist.

**_But, then again, did you ever really have her at all?_ **

She clenched her hand into a fist, balling it painfully until the skin of the knuckles screamed for release and ground down on her back teeth, hissing the words slowly from pursed lips.

“I’m. Not. **Listening**. To you. Any. _More_.”

She paused, noting off seven ticking seconds of the clock before releasing a heavy breath out of her mouth, blinking her eyes open against the dim kitchen candle light.

She waited again.

Another deep breath.

Another seven seconds.

Another release.

She waited.

Nothing but silence.

No voice came.

Finally.

_Peace._

**_You’re in control._ **

She glanced at the clock, the minute hand reaching closer to the top.

Perhaps she really didn’t care.

Perhaps this really was it.

Perhaps Toni was **gone.**

She sniffed again.

 **God** she felt so alone.

Even with Nana Rose asleep upstairs.

Even with a plethora of friends to contact.

She felt so profoundly alone without Toni.

She almost, _almost_ , wished for her mother.

If only JJ were still here.

If only he could raise himself from the grave to console her. To ease her mind as he always did so well.

Three heavy bangs sounded out loudly in the silence of the kitchen, knocked urgently against the wood of the back door and Cheryl jumped in her chair, warm tea spilling liberally across the table as its condensation quickly dissipated into the ether.

“Goddammit.” She muttered, unfurling her legs and stepping quickly across the room, her bare feet padding daintily over the cold stones of the floor, and she wrenched the bolt clear, swinging open the door.

The relief that drenched her body almost took her to the ground.

There, on the other side, stood Toni.

_Thank **God**._

Cheryl let out a shuddered breath, her eyes fluttering shut for a moment before she stepped out of the way to allow Toni inside, pushing the door closed behind them.

She slipped the blot across, gripping the cool metal in her hand harshly as her relieved mind turned to anger.

“Why didn’t you reply to my messages?” She murmured, not yet turning around.

Probably as punishment.

She heard Toni sigh behind her.

“Ah fuck, Cher. Did you text me?” She said softly, her voice even more hoarse than usual. She sounded tired, cried out even. “I’m so sorry, my phone died.”

Cheryl swallowed, turning around, the first tears collecting in her lower lashes.

“Well then why didn’t you return home, Toni? I’ve been here all day worried _sick_ about you.”

Not that she particularly wanted to admit that at the present moment.

Toni’s face fell, her eyes creasing at the brow and looking pained.

“Cher, I had my shift at the Wyrm today. I start at midday every other Sunday, remember? I only just finished and I came straight here. I _had_ to go. I didn’t want to. But, I’m sorry, I thought you knew, I didn’t mean for you to worry.”

Cheryl let out a short breath, glancing down at her hands.

Shit.

“Of course.” She murmured, nodding, “I remember that now.”

Perhaps she shouldn’t have been so quick to doubt her.

She tugged the edges of her gown across her front, making her way back to the table, taking a seat and staring blankly at the cooling pool of spilt tea bleeding slowly around her cup.

She heard Toni shift behind her, the legs of the wooden chair scarping harshly against the floor next to her as she pulled it out.

Cheryl looked up, watching Toni perch onto her seat, her little legs coming up to rest upon it, her chin sitting on top of her knees.

She took the close proximity as an opportunity to take a good look at her, examining the dark rings around her swelling eyes and the haggard look to her face.

It hurt her heart to see.

Toni appeared to be doing much the same analysis, her eyes saddening as they flicked over Cheryl’s face.

They sat in silence for a moment, the incessant clock ticking their time away.

Toni cleared her throat roughly, fingers scratching distractedly at the polished wood of the table.

“Do you have anything you want to say to me, Cher?”

Cheryl’s defences flared, her head snapping upwards with a narrowing frown.

“And what exactly do you mean by _that_ , Toni?” She croaked, breathing steadily through her nose to quell the tears.

Toni groaned, sending her a regretful frown.

“No, Cher. I didn’t mean that how it sounded,” She placated softly, shaking her head, “I just meant, if you wanted to go first, go ahead.”

She pressed her chapped lips together, meeting Cheryl’s eyes.

“If not, I have some things I’d like to say to you, Cheryl.”

Cheryl nodded, slinking back into her chair.

“Ok.” Toni sighed, rubbing at her eye with tanned fingers. “I know that what you did was to help me and keep us together. And I don’t want you to think that I’m not grateful.”

She looked to Cheryl expectantly.

Cheryl did not react.

“Because I am, Cher.” Toni continued, “I’m really grateful. I guess, I just wish you’d told me. It didn’t feel great finding out the way that I did.”

She reached up to push pink hair from her face and Cheryl watched, nodding.

“I understand that, Toni. And you know I’m sorry for keeping it from you.”

Toni nodded this time, dropping her eyes to the floor.

“I know.” She sighed, “Look, Cher, I’m not proud of how I reacted. I don’t like the fact that we both ended up so upset and I’m sorry for making you feel like that. Knowing that I made you cry makes me…”

She faltered, lips pressed firmly together as she swallowed a few times, eyes glassy.

_God just let it out, dammit._

“…I hate it. I hate that I did that and I never want to make you feel like that again. I’m so sorry, Cher.”

She blinked, her tears successfully repressed for now.

“It’s just… I know that your intentions were good, Cheryl. And I love that you made such a sacrifice for me. But, rather than the act itself, it was more what it represented that got me. And that’s **not** your fault. And I shouldn’t have made out like it was.”

She seemed to fidget in her seat, the vulnerability of her words making her uncomfortable.

Cheryl wanted desperately to reach out and hold her, but she refrained, watching Toni’s little fingers shake as they moved on the table idly.

“Cher, I have a lot of… bitterness towards the Northside. I’m bitter. _God I’_ m bitter. And I’m not _just_ bitter, I’m mad. Like really, crazy **_mad_** and upset about a lot of the shit that I’ve grown up with, and a lot of the ways that I’ve been treated and my people have been treated and money and rich Northsiders and just the awful _inequalities_ that have come into my life and feeling ignored and powerless and less than and just…” she sighed, frustrated with her own inarticulateness, “It gets to me. Like, a lot. And when I found out about this it kinda just brought it all back to me I guess.”

Cheryl’s brow eased, her eyes opening softly in realisation.

**_If it’s not your problem, it doesn’t exist._ **

“But none of that shit is your fault, Cher. None of it is. You are perfect and wonderful and amazing and you have opened up your life to me and turned my whole perception of the Northside upside down and I just, I took out my rage for something else on _you_ , Cher.” Toni’s voice trailed off to a laboured whisper, “I know it doesn’t justify how mad I got at you, and I really am sorry, but… I just hope, you can understand _why_.”

Cheryl watched as Toni’s little fist shook unsteadily, vibrating the table beneath it and she reached forward to envelope it with her own fingers, stroking her thumb soothingly to the soft, brown skin.

“I do, TT.” She whispered in reply. “And I’m sorry for the things that I said. I’m sorry that I implied that you would intentionally try to hurt me with your words. And I understand that your past has not been easy, Toni. I should have spoken to you about it before I did it.”

Toni sighed, shaking her head heavily.

“No, Cher. You don’t need to say sorry for that. You do enough. You do. I haven’t opened up about a lot of my shit. And that’s not your fault. And sometimes… sometimes I need to not be so blinded by what I believe is right and wrong, not be so led by my morals and just see the situation for what it is.” She lifted her gaze to Cheryl’s, “Especially when it comes to you, Cheryl. I don’t ever wanna feel like I felt last night at Veronica’s ever again. I don’t wanna make _you_ feel like that again.”

Cheryl squeezed her hand, understanding the sentiment _deep_ within her soul.

“Cher, I’m so sorry I got so mad.”

“And I’m sorry that I sometimes forget that I’m not the only one of us who has a past, TT.”

Toni swallowed, dropping one of her legs to the ground.

“I just don’t want my shit to fuck you up, Cher. You’re going to therapy and you got yourself emancipated and you’re taking control of your life and I don’t want my problems or my bitterness or my place in the Serpents to fuck that up for you. That’s…” She looked into her lap, “…that’s why I said we might need time apart. But I don’t want it. I don’t want to be apart from you. You’re the best thing in my life, Cheryl. Ever.”

Cheryl turned Toni’s hand on the table, linking their fingers and tugged on her arm to bring her gaze to hers.

She dropped her voice, making sure to keep each word clear and crisp and meaningful.

“We help each other, Toni Topaz.”

Whether it was a promise, or a statement, or a line etched into the very fabric of their time by fate itself, mattered not.

All that mattered was that it was _true_.

Toni nodded.

“We help each other.” She repeated, looking to their joined hands. “I love you, Cheryl. More than anything. I mean it.”

“I know, TT. And I mean it too.”

The clocked ticked by as silence befell them once more.

Toni rolled Cheryl’s fingers in hers.

“Does this mean I’m forgiven?”

Cheryl nodded, the edges of her lips tipping upwards oh so slightly.

“Yes, TT. And I?”

“ _Of course,_ Cher.” Toni breathed in reply, frowning at such an obvious question, “But are you sure? We’re ok now?”

Cheryl’s lips curved wider, her mind for once peacefully silent.

“Yes, TT. I’m sure. It’s all under **control**.”

_You’ve got it, Little Bird._

_You’ve got it._

 

 

 

 


	40. Reincarnation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'sup mofos, back again. This was draining, hope you like it, let me know what you think. To all the readers of my other fic 'Cognitive Dissonance,' have no fear, this update isn't me prioritizing Scuff, I just had to get this out of my head whilst I was still inspired ahah, more for TCDOC soon! Peace out and thanks for the continued support on my works, so grateful!

 

 

 

“Toni, hold still, it’s getting everywhere.”

“Huh?”

“Hold _still._ ”

“Cheryl, I can’t hear you.”

“Hold **_still_** I- oh for goodness sake hold on.”

Cheryl huffed, pulling her hand from the depths of Toni’s hair and reaching over to turn off the water. She stood back, placing the shower head into the bath and turned to dry her hands in a towel.

“I said, hold still. You were thrashing around like a dog. If you get pink hair dye on my walls Nana Rose will have a fit.”

She watched Toni as she stood hunched over the edge of the tub, lifting her little hands to wring the water from her curls.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize.” She murmured, running her tanned fingers through it gently, “Has it taken? Does it look darker?”

Cheryl turned her head, draping a towel gently over Toni’s shoulders.

“Yes, I think so. Although it looked like a lot of it washed out. I told you that you should’ve bleached it before.”

Toni scoffed at her, rubbing the towel along the freshly colored strands.

“Cheryl, I’d wake up snatched fucking bald if I put anymore bleach on this shit.”

She stood up straight, her wet hair flopping prettily over her bare shoulders and wiped at her face.

Cheryl simply stared.

“Why are you doing it anyway?” She mused, eyes draping down from Toni’s full bra to her neatly taut stomach.

Toni turned to the mirror, shaking her fingers through the ends as she admired the brighter color.

“Well I would’ve done it at Veronica’s last night but I left the dye here so I figured I’d come over and do it after school.” She murmured, creating a side part deftly with her fingers.

Cheryl pressed her lips together, glancing down at the floor tiles as she leaned back against the wall behind her.

“How is it staying there?” She asked quietly.

Toni shrugged from the corner of her eye.

“It’s nice. Her mom has flowers everywhere and I’ve only heard Ronnie and Archie banging one time. It’s good. She makes me a cocoa before bed every night and puts liquor in it.”

Cheryl watched her reach for her discarded t-shirt, slipping it over her head and flipping her wet hair over her back.

She glanced at Cheryl through the mirror.

“How is it here?”

Absence, most certainly in Cheryl’s book, made the heart grow fonder.

Despite their brief reconciliation in her kitchen 12 days ago, they had mutually agreed to introduce a slight degree of separation between them, just for a few weeks. Moving in together so quickly, although beneficially timed, would not suffer from the brief rest and Veronica was happy to house Toni for the time being, her parents having left for the City on business for the month.

It was good for them. They needed it. It was _working_.

But Cheryl missed her.

She missed her dearly.

She missed _touching_ her.

They had been unsure of an official term for their relationship in this essential period of healing, and thusly, had decided not to label themselves as anything beyond ‘ _each other’s_.’

The boundaries of such a moniker had been loosely defined as a time for them to reflect, to grow, to deal with their own problems separately without the added pressure of maintaining their relationship in an official capacity and, despite Cheryl’s desire to wake up to that beautiful little face every morning, it _was_ working.

They still saw each other at school, created no difference to their socialising amongst friends, and spent time alone together to study or talk as normal, but there was no physical side. Not even so much as a held hand. In fact, the most Cheryl had touched her in almost two weeks had been during the short process of dyeing her hair mere minutes ago, and, were it not for the fact that Cheryl knew she _had_ to do this, _had_ to focus on herself and afford the same opportunity to Toni, then by now she would’ve gone mad.

But, God she missed it.

Her eyes darted to a dark, slender neck as Toni exposed it, fluffing her hair with the towel, and Cheryl sighed.

 _Touch_.

No. They _needed_ this.

 **She** needed this. She’d been too reliant. She always had. Despite her desire to create her HBIC cult of personality, the poster-child and spokesperson for the ideal ‘independent woman,’ the truth was an embarrassingly stark opposite. She needed to make a change. To be secure and stable without the incessant need of the crutch of another.  She needed to be able to be by herself. To be there _for_ herself.

“It’s going well, also.” She murmured, nodding her head slowly, “Nana Rose misses you reading to her but I informed her that this would not be a permanent arrangement. She seemed pleased by that.”

The implications behind her hopeful promise lay thickly in the humid air and had Cheryl not taken the brief nanosecond to glance up at Toni’s reflection she would’ve missed the relieved little smile that had flashed so briefly across those gorgeous lips.

It was **_working_**.

“Anyway,” Cheryl started, sucking in a deep breath as she pushed herself from the wall to collect Toni’s damp, discarded towel, now permanently tinged pink no doubt, “to refer to my original question, rather than why are you doing it, why are you doing it _now?_ ”

Toni turned to her, tilting her head to the side and leaning her hands onto the lip of the sink basin behind her.

“Because I’m meeting someone new this evening.”

Cheryl stiffened.

Surely not.

Surely she hadn’t come over here, to _their_ house, not quite the official couple they once were for a moment but still destined to be, still holding out for ‘ _each other’,_ to prepare to meet with someone else?

Surely she wasn’t preparing for a fucking **date**?

She felt her heartrate quicken, an angry flush heating her skin as she forgot how to breathe entirely, her red lips parting in shock.

Toni offered nothing but a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

How _dare-_

“And you’re coming with me, Cher.”

Oh.

Cheryl’s face slackened, her skin cooling instantly as she released her tense grip on the towel in her hands.

“Pardon?”

Toni nodded at her, glancing into the mirror behind her to straighten her eyebrows with the pad of her middle finger.

“We’re going somewhere, Cheryl. And I’m meeting someone important, so I wanted to make a good first impression.” She turned around again, a rumbling chuckle tumbling from her lips as she took in Cheryl’s state of confusion. “Would it be ok if I drove your car? I’d like to keep it a surprise.”

Cheryl frowned, mouth still gaping.

“TT, what on earth are you… yes of course you can drive my car- But I… what the hell are you talking about?” She stuttered clumsily, watching as Toni made her way to the door.

“Just grab a jacket and trust me, Cheryl. Can you do that?”

Toni turned back to look at her with a striking sincerity in her eyes and it clicked inside Cheryl’s head that this was an exercise in control. For herself and for them. To rely on her own intelligent mind to remain calm without looking to Toni for the answers. To be self-reliant even in as part of a partnership.

She could do this.

She _would_ do this.

It was **_working_**.

She pressed her lips together, eyes tracing the damp patches forming on the shoulders of Toni’s t-shirt.

“Yes,” She said firmly, lifting her gaze to bright eyes, “Yes, I can.”

 

 

 

 

“At least tell me _where_ it is that we’re going?”

“Cheryl, if I was going to ruin that part of it I would’ve had you drive us.”

Cheryl sighed, shifting in her seat.

“But I need to know if my footwear is appropriate, Toni.” She lied, still fishing for information.

Toni opted not to dignify her attempts with an answer and Cheryl peered at her from her peripheral, watching her pretty eyes focus on the road as she drove, her hair expanding gradually as it dried in the balmy evening breeze blowing in through her open window.

“Why are there flowers on the back seat?”

Toni rolled her eyes gently, letting go of the wheel with one hand to push the sleeve of her Serpent jacket over her forearm.

“They’re for the person we’re visiting.”

Cheryl frowned, glancing at the bouquets lying in the back.

“But, two bunches? They need two, TT?”

“Cher. Please?” Toni glanced at her, eyes soft and pleading, and Cheryl hushed her interrogation, turning her shoulders once again to face the front.

“Sorry.”

Toni shook her head.

“It’s fine. Just close your eyes from here onward though would you please?”

Cheryl stiffened in her seat.

“Why?”

“Chery-”

“Why do I have to close my eyes?”

_Stop. You’re ok._

_You can handle this._

_Let’s take control, shall we?_

Toni looked to her, almost defeated, and Cheryl swallowed.

“I just wanna keep it a surprise, Cher. But if you don’t feel comfortable you don-”

“No, TT. I’m sorry. I’ll close my eyes.”

_Well done, Little Bird._

_You’ll be unstoppable soon._

She pressed her head to the glass of the window, the vibration of the road bumping against her temple and watched the evening sun as it slipped through the gaps in the trees as they passed by, closing it off to darkness as she let her lids drop.

She ached to reach out her hand and envelope it over Toni’s. To glide her pale fingers across soft, delicate skin, to feel over the round bumps of her knuckles and trace the raised lines of scars that lay strewn upon their surface. To feel those tanned little fingers squeeze back reassuringly, a thumb stroking delicately over her hand and feeling true, sincere _peace_ with the world.

She smiled to herself, red lips quirking at the edges.

She missed it.

_It’s worth it, Cheryl._

_Because it’s working, Little One. It’s working._

“How was your session yesterday?”

Cheryl’s skin prickled as her ears tuned in to the relaxing rasp of Toni’s voice.

_Peace._

“Good, thank you. My therapist says that he is pleased with my progress.” She murmured, eyes still closed as she rolled her shoulders comfortably. “We’re just beginning to breach the topic of my childhood, so I’m preparing myself for that.”

She heard the breath of a light chuckle puff through Toni’s teeth and her smile widened.

The car teemed steadily onward.

“You’re doing amazing, you know that right? Pretty inspiring to see, Cher, honestly.”

_You see, Cheryl?_

_You’re **inspiring**_.

The sun shone a blazing red through her eyelids and she felt the subtle heat of it warm her face through the glass.

“Thank you, TT. I quite agree. I’m starting to realize just how formidable I truly am.”

Toni hummed, and despite her lack of vision Cheryl was certain that the vibrations of it had passed through smiling lips.

“Forgot you were a bad bitch for a second there, huh?”

_You’ll be unstoppable soon._

“Yes, I suppose I did.”

Cheryl felt the car turn, slowing almost to a stop as the tyres began to crunch over gravelled stones, the winding nature and rickety structure of the track beneath them oddly nostalgic to her.

She heard the squeak of the brakes, the key turning in the ignition to dull the grind of the engine and lifted her head to sit up straight in her seat, eyes still squeezed firmly shut.

A rustling next to her prickled in her ears and she heard Toni grunt, settling back into stillness for a moment.

“Ok, Cher.” She whispered softly, “You can open your eyes.”

Cheryl sighed, lips upturned at the edges, blinking her eyes open slowly and bent her head to peer out of the windshield, her blood running cold.

Her smile slipped quickly from her face.

She scattered her eyes over chaotic spikes of debris in front of them, blackened by soot and _bad memories_ , the broken shell before her decaying slowly away into the earth. What once had been a grand structure now lay in ruins. Fire beaten, weathered, evil ruins.

Thornhill.

Ruins that _she_ had created.

She opened her mouth, a shuddered breath parting through her lips and shook her head, hands gripping harshly into the padded leather of her seat.

Why had Toni brought her _here_?

Why would she think to expose her to such awful memories?

Who could they even be _meeting_ here, oh **_god_** surely not her _mother?_

“Cheryl, don’t panic.” Came a calm murmur from beside her.

She turned her head, tears stinging their threat as she saw Toni clutching the flowers in her hand, wide eyes studying Cheryl’s face.

“Toni, why have you…”

She stopped, swallowing harshly as Toni’s face seemed to soften before her.

“Cher,” She said gently, shifting in her seat, eyes carefully focussed to Cheryl’s, “Would you please introduce me to Jason?”

Cheryl blinked, her surroundings creaking to silence.

Jason.

They were here to visit Jason.

Toni wanted to look her best to meet _Jason_.

_See? Nothing to worry about._

_You’ve got control._

“Oh my god.”

She breathed the words croakily, the tears that had been threatening to spill now dripping freely over her pale cheeks.

Individual issues and time apart to heal aside, this girl was the _one._

Cheryl Blossom had found in Toni Topaz, ‘the **one**.’

“Visiting Jason.” She whispered, blinking her misted eyes, and she watched Toni nod, her brow pinched into an empathetic frown as she reached out to wipe Cheryl’s tears with her thumb.

Cheryl relished the long-awaited heat from Toni’s touch and welcomed it gratefully, even in its sparing quantity.

“The flowers…”

“For the grave.” Toni concluded softly, pressing her chapped lips together. “Cher, I’m sorry if it’s too much for you. We can head back; go to Pop’s instead maybe? I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

She looked at Cheryl, pained, and cleared her throat.

“No, TT. My goodness. I’m simply touched by your kindness is all.” Cheryl breathed.

_See, Cheryl?_

_Not all tears are sad._

_You’ve got this._

Toni’s eyebrows twitched upwards, the ghost of a smile haunting at her lips.

“Ok,” She tilted her head, eyes flicking between Cheryl’s, “Then let’s go say hi, shall we?” She stretched her lips into a grin and Cheryl felt her own mouth mimicking the action. “How do I look?”

Cheryl let out a watery chuckle, padding the back of her hand across her cheek to blot her tears.

“Perfect, TT. Always.”

 

 

 

 

“Wow, no one’s been up here to take care of this in a while huh?” Toni sighed, glancing a look at Cheryl.

They stood, side by side, at the end of the grave, peering curiously at the weather-stained headstone that held the name of the greatest loss of Cheryl’s brief existence.

**‘Here lies Jason Blossom, beloved son.’**

The Blossoms had never been known for gushing words of emotion, not even in death. Cheryl had witnessed the gradual breakdown of her mother at the loss of her dear baby boy and yet had never seen more than a sparse tear, her lips remaining sewn tightly together. No wailing. No sobbing. No woeful screams of regret and mourning. She’d been taught to lock it all up, and that she did.

Cheryl almost felt sorry for her.

She refused to end up like that.

But rigid social expectation towards a lack of sentiment be damned, the tiny scrawled script upon his stone was sickening in its poverty, offensive to Cheryl’s very heart. Just six damn words to sign the passing of _all_ that Jason had been.

And a conspicuous lack of ‘ _and brother.’_ A cold, cruel lack. Used to spurn infinite discomfort and regret upon Cheryl, rather than Jason’s memory.

He was more than a brother. He was her twin.

Her soulmate.

Not that anyone who happened to peer upon his grave would know that.

They wouldn’t even know she’d existed in his life at all.

Perhaps that’s what her parents had wanted.

“Mommy didn’t much like me coming here, especially not alone. She felt it was the one last thing she had for her and Jason after he was taken from her. From _us_. She wanted to keep it sacred.” Cheryl whispered, her eyes trailing the dates of his life and her stomach churning at how damned _close_ they were.

Cut so fucking short.

“I can understand that.” Toni murmured.

Cheryl turned to look her incredulously, gazing over the frown on her neat little brow.

“I’m not saying it’s right. Or fair. And I’m not saying that I like her. But she lost her son. And I can understand that.”

She moved forward then, bending down and placing one of the bouquets of flowers, onto the middle of the patch of grass under which dear JJ would eternally lay, with such gentle, respectful precision.

Cheryl stood dumbly, watching in awe.

Mere weeks ago Toni had been spouting her bitter hatred for all things quintessentially Northside, and now, here she stood, empathising with Cheryl’s witch of a mother and adorning the grave of said witch’s son with fresh flowers.

_It was **working**._

_You’ve grown like that too, Cheryl._

_You’re almost there._

_You’ll be unstoppable soon._

Toni returned to her standing position, eyes wistful.

“Sucks I’ll never get to meet him, Cher.” She confessed, “I feel like I miss him now even just knowing that.” She turned, half of her face illuminated to a golden hue in the setting sun, “I can’t imagine what it must be like for you.”

Cheryl swallowed, drifting her eyes over Toni’s hair, its glaring pink a beacon in the sunlight and wisping stray strands gently across her neck in the breeze.

“It’s getting easier.” She whispered, nodding her head just a fraction as she sucked in an unsteady breath and returned her eyes to Jason, tears beginning to spill from them. “Gosh, if only one day I could be like everyone else, stop shedding tears and simply remember him fondly.”

She felt warm fingers wrap around her hand and squeeze.

“Your brother died, Cher.” Toni stated simply, her shoulders relaxing to a slump, “doesn’t matter how or why or anything really. The fact is: you lost your brother.” She stroked her thumb across the back of Cheryl’s hand, her voice dropping softly, “You weren’t given the chance to mourn him properly. From what I’ve heard it was always, ‘ _Blossom heir’ or ‘High School footballer,’_ I mean, look, it only says _son_ even on his grave.” She sighed, lips pressed together. “But, _you_ lost your _brother_. And you’re allowed to cry about that forever if you want. Doesn’t make his time with you any less happy. You can’t put a time limit on grief, Cher. And if you wanna cry about it then you go ahead and do it. I don’t think that’s anyone’s decision but yours.”

_No one’s decision but yours, Little Bird._

_It’s your life, and **you’re** in control._

Cheryl smiled, sniffing back a sob and held tightly to Toni’s hand in return.

“I liked to think of him as my soulmate.”

Toni nodded solemnly, eyes fixed to the stone.

“And I bet he thought that too, Cher. He was a lucky guy to have you.”

_No one’s decision but yours._

_It’s working._

“Thank you for this, Toni.”

_You’ll be unstoppable soon._

Toni graciously ignored the gratitude, narrowing her eyes curiously.

“You know it’s cool that you have somewhere to come visit him. All the people that I know who have died either got cremated and tossed away or they never found the body.” She murmured, bending down to sit on her haunches and touch a hand tenderly to the grass. “You’ll always have this with him. That must be nice.”

Not for the first time, Cheryl found herself forgetting the depth and sheer existence of Toni’s past, littered with losses and traumas and unresolved sufferings of its own.

_You can change that._

_You’re in control._

“What are the Uktena beliefs towards death?” She posed quietly, desperate to show Toni that she _did_ care. She _did_ see outside of her own history.

Toni turned to look up at her, squinting in the light of the sun, and beamed her pretty little smile as she stood back to her feet.

 _God_ that smile.

“In a general kinda way, they believe what a lot of indigenous people believe. That dead loved ones can be reincarnated, that they can experience other existences over and over, live out the years that maybe they didn’t get to see the first time around.” She glanced at the ground in front of them, “The spirit doesn’t die. Just the flesh.”

Cheryl felt a comforting warmth envelope her, her tears all but dried on her cheeks.

“I like that.”

They stood then for a moment in silence, hands clasped and eyes nostalgic.

“You know, TT.” Cheryl pondered into the silence of the cemetery, shifting her weight on her feet, “The girl I was when Jason was alive, as much as I loved him so very dearly, was not a happy girl. He was, without doubt, the best thing in my life, but **that** life, it was _awful_ , Toni. It wasn’t his fault of course, he tried to protect me from all of that. But he’s dead now. He’s gone. And perhaps, then, so is that girl. As we leave him here to rest for eternity, so too can I leave behind that part of my life. Dead and buried. To allow for existence of the girl that I am now, to allow for…”

She turned to look at Toni who smiled back at her, understanding glinting in her brown eyes.

“For reincarnation.” She finished on Cheryl’s behalf, slotting their finger together perfectly.

_Touch._

_Perfection._

_Control._

“Shall we place the second bouquet by the grave stone and say our goodbyes?” Cheryl suggested, glancing down at the flowers in Toni’s hand. “It is starting to get dark.”

Toni broke her attention from the ground in front of her to look at Cheryl, lifting the bouquet into view.

“Oh, these aren’t for Jason.” She murmured, shaking her head, pink hair scattering lightly across her back.

“Oh, I see. Who are they for then, TT?”

Toni paused, lips squirming hesitantly as she lifted the petals to her nose and sniffed them lightly.

“They’re for your dad’s grave.”

Cheryl’s lips dropped open in shock as she let go of Toni’s hand, her feet almost buckling below her on the soft turf.

“Daddy?” She whispered.

Toni nodded, face screwed.

“Cher,” She sighed, “My whole portion of this time apart thing, time for us to grow and work on our shit, is about getting over my bitterness for the Northside. Now, I’m not saying that I don’t think a lot of things aren’t still fucked up, but I need to let go of a lot of the rage I feel about shit that I can’t control. And I need to make it up to you for taking it all out on you and letting it manifest like I did. And I’ve been working on it, for real, I’ve been thinking about it so hard and I figured, even though they’re just some cheap flowers, maybe the whole idea of putting them on the grave of the Northside Devil himself can prove that I’m open to forgiveness. I don’t know, that I’m healing, that I’m seeing all these people from the other side of the tracks in a different light. I know he was awful to you and I know what he did to Jason but, I don’t discriminate when it comes to the dead. I wanna show you _and_ myself that some of my differences can be put aside for the sake of important things. Important things like you, Cher.” She glanced up at Cheryl, “Plus, Nana Rose is kinda my family now, and like your mom, when your father died, she lost a son too. Shit, I dunno, Cheryl maybe it’s just fucked up logic, maybe it is just some dumb flowers but, a month ago I wouldn’t think of doing anything but _spitting_ on a rich, corrupt Northsiders grave. And now, after all of this, I don’t feel like that anymore.”

Cheryl shook her head, finally at a goddamn loss for words.

This girl was beyond beauty. She was beyond deserving and righteous and forgiving and diligent and she willing to work to make herself better, to make _them_ better.

She was _it_.

“Toni,” Cheryl rasped, able to stop the tears this time, “I know we’re in our own version of limbo at the moment, and that we vowed not to complicate that with romance. But right now, I just need to say that… I truly _love_ you.”

Toni smiled, perfect teeth cracking through the slight part in her beautiful lips.

“I love you too, Cher.”

_You’ll be **unstoppable.**_

“Unfortunately, however, despite your heartfelt gesture, daddy is not buried in the Blossom family cemetery. He was buried elsewhere by the State, in a pauper’s grave. Mommy refused to pay for the burial and I have no idea where he’s laid. In all honesty, I don’t care to know either.”

Cheryl glanced to the side, tracing her eyes over her brother’s name a final time.

There was only one grave she wished to visit.

“Well in that case, I guess these flowers are for you, Cheryl.”

She looked up to see Toni pass the bouquet across to her and received it gratefully, curling her long fingers around the stems and inspecting the petals keenly.

“Thank you, Toni.”

“You’re welcome. Care to drop me off at Ronnie’s on your way home, please?”

“It would be my pleasure.”

_It’s working, Cheryl._

_You’ll be unstoppable._

 

 

 

 


	41. A Passing Storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellooooo. Weather metaphors a-plenty ahead. As we know water is an important element (pun intended) to Cheryl's life and the metaphor adds to that and, also, is a little more far reaching. Unnecessary pretentious bullshit aside, however, this is soft as fuck, good ole fluff and some added Veronica/Cheryl interaction for ya nerves because why the fuck not? Seriously though, thanks again for everyone's continued support for this, I literally cannot believe the extent to which it has been so nicely received and has blown up, we are starting to near the end I will say, not sure how many chapters are left but we're getting there, guys. So thank you so much to all of you who have stuck with it and not got fucking bored yet! Peace out, everyone, you're all fantastic. Thanks, let me know what you think and enjoy!

 

 

 

The loud spattering currents of torrential rain hammered against the metal roof of the gymnasium, drowning out the gaggled gossip of the small group of River Vixens who’d been first to arrive to afterschool practice. A Summer storm had been brewing threateningly over the town, ever since the night that Toni had taken her to meet Jason, and finally, that afternoon it had broken in the skies, the thick, potent humidity  dissipating to make way for a fresh new wave of cleansing rain. The arrival of the change announced itself loudly with intermittent bouts of rumbling thunder and one crashed loudly overhead as Cheryl strutted over to the bleachers, distancing herself from the asinine _nonsense_ of Ginger Lopez’s high-pitched soliloquy.

She sat, hooking one leg over the other and took her clipboard in hand, pretending to rake her eyes over the choreography plans for today’s session and blinked rapidly a few times. She could barely concentrate on _anything_ after her visit to the cemetery with Toni those few days ago. She’d thought she missed her before, but now, after that unabashed display of pure unconditional love and willingness to do _anything_ to strengthen them, Cheryl hadn’t felt a longing for reuniting like this since Jason had died.

God she wanted her back.

She was ready. She was certain that Toni was ready. The break had _worked_.

Another trembling roll of thunder barrelled above.

And to make things worse, the only thing more raging than her affection was her fucking libido.

She couldn’t take it.

She couldn’t.

Cheryl Blossom was not put upon this earth to be denied.

She got what she wanted.

She had sampled the truest, most sincere and intoxicating pleasures of the flesh through the work of Toni’s talented body and she was not about to give them up for any longer than absolutely necessary.

Her own mental strength had worked its way past the necessity of reliance on other people, **_finally_** , but _sex_ was **very** much still a two player game for Cheryl and there was only _one_ person that she wanted back on her team.

She cleared her throat, fanning a hand to her face.

It appeared as if Toni was very much in the same boat.

At precisely 11:34pm last night, unable to drift off alone in her bed, she had rolled over to an incoming message from Toni, simply stating:

‘ _Thinking of you x’_

With a full heart and a pining smile she had opened the attachment connected to it and was met with a video so explicit in nature that she had, quite literally and uncharacteristically, drooled out of the side of her mouth. Indeed, were it not for the fact that Cheryl was able to identify Toni naked from below the waist and recognise the skilled movements of her hand, working diligently on herself on the small screen of Cheryl’s phone, then she couldn’t even have been sure it was her at all.

Alas, she could, and it _was_.

At 12:08am, sweaty and spent, Cheryl had finally fallen asleep.

But it simply wasn’t enough. It never had been enough. She felt as if she’d gone full circle, from months ago having been lusting after Toni from afar, to a wonderful, beautiful time of exploration in _all_ senses together, to now, frustrated and distanced once again.

She _had_ to have her back.

They were ready.

“Cheryl Blossom, you look positively ill.” A familiar voice chided from behind her and she rolled her eyes, watching as Veronica Lodge stepped into sight, taking an elegant seat next to her on the bench.

“Cramps, Veronica.” Cheryl lied deftly, glancing around the gym. “Where is Toni, I thought she was with you last period?”

Veronica flipped her dark hair over her shoulder, glancing at the group of idiots across the room.

“She’s in the parking lot feeding that flea ridden cat behind the dumpsters like she always does. She’ll be around in a minute.” She explained flippantly, leaning back on her arms.

Cheryl pressed her lips together.

Even in the rain.

God what a stupid fucking _sweetheart_ that girl was goddammit.

“I see.”

Veronica hummed, narrowing her eyes at the other girls before turning to Cheryl.

“So when are you inviting her back to Thistlehouse to live with you again?”

Cheryl should’ve been used to the bluntly direct nature of Veronica Lodge’s interrogations by now but they still took her aback each time, even now.

She blinked, straightening her back.

“Why, Veronica? I didn’t think your parents returned for another week. Or are you becoming unhappy with housing Toni all of a sudden?”

Veronica rolled her eyes.

“First of all, _Cheryl_ , I adore Toni and were it not for the fact that she is madly in love with _you,_ and that her and Archie are not attracted to one another, then I would have proposed a polyamorous throuple between the three of us by now.”

Cheryl smirked, a light chuckle leaving her lips.

“Also,” Veronica continued pointedly, “She is constantly trawling your Instagram with a smile on her face that makes her look as if she’s dropped half her IQ points, she finds any excuse to bring the conversation back to you at _all_ times, which _full_ offense, Cheryl, is _exhausting_ at this point **and** ,” She stopped, shifting her head closer to Cheryl’s, staring her dead in the eye, “I don’t know where you guys went after school last week or what you did or why Toni needed _two_ bunches of flowers – and I don’t need to know – but when she got back that night I asked her how it went and I kid you _not,_ Cheryl Blossom, she looked at me with the most **_tender_** eyes I have ever seen on a human being, looking like a damn cartoon _bunny rabbit_ , and said, ‘ _I’m just so fucking in love, Ronnie.’_ And I swear to all that is holy, Cheryl, I almost fucking swooned into unconsciousness.”

Veronica pulled back, satisfaction peering through her accusatory eyes.

“ _That_ is why I’m asking when you’re going to grow some ovaries and ask **_the love of your goddamn life_** , Cheryl, to move back into your home with you.” She raised a black eyebrow, “Because she’s _desperate_ to be with you again.”

Cheryl sat stiffly, stunned.

_The love of you goddamn life, Cheryl._

One day, Cheryl would vow to repay the debt she had accumulated with Veronica, for services rendered in helping save her relationship.

One fucking day.

“She did?” Cheryl murmured, placing her clipboard onto the bench between them.

Veronica let out a tired sigh.

“Oh because you’re _so **shocked**_ that Toni willingly displayed how much she cares for you, Cheryl? Because she not doing that _all_ the damn time.” She drawled sarcastically.

Cheryl frowned.

“Well, she was the one who walked out-”

“Oh my _god,_ Cheryl. You had a _fight_.” Veronica interrupted exasperatedly, flopping her head back on her shoulders, “You think you’re the first pair of teenagers to get pissed at each other and take a break? It was a **good** thing. It was healthy. You _needed_ it. And you’re both better off because of it _,_ so now you can damn well get back to normal.”

She rolled her head on her neck to regard Cheryl with a look that left no space for argument.

“And if you _don’t_ want her back, Cheryl, rest assured that after seeing how utterly committed and loving that girl can be towards someone she cares about, _I_ will happily have her.”

Cheryl rolled her eyes, knowing she was right.

“Do you love her, Cheryl?”

The words took her by surprise, despite the knowing tone behind them, and Cheryl frowned deeply, her eyes almost hurt by the question.

“I love her _so_ much.” She breathed.

“Well then ask her back.”

Cheryl shook her head, flipping a curtain of hair over her shoulder.

“Well I don’t want her to think that I expect her to return at my beck and call, Veronica. Perhaps she will make the suggestion?”

Veronica let out a disgusted grunt.

“You expect her to just _invite_ herself back into your house, Cheryl? After she gave you all that space for healing? After you did the same for her? You think she’d just rock up one day and say, ‘ _Hey, Cher, don’t care if you’re not ready but I’m forcing myself back into this home that isn’t mine.’_?”

Cheryl sucked in an offended breath, blinking.

“It _is_ her home.” She whispered.

Veronica nodded, placing her hand over Cheryl’s.

“But does _she_ know that, Cheryl?”

Cheryl paused, her red lips clamping shut.

Well, holy shit. Veronica Lodge really just might be the smarter one of the two of them.

Dammit.

She watched a smugness pass over Veronica’s face in response to her silence.

“Invite her back, Cheryl.” She instructed her voice lowering as she glanced behind Cheryl and sat up straight, murmuring out of the side of her mouth. “Don’t say any more.”

Cheryl raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mea-”

Two warm hands enveloped her shoulders suddenly, an earthen fragrance filling her nose as thumbs began to massage themselves gently into the muscles, a raspy voice floating out to reach her.

“Hey, Cher-Bear.”

Toni.

The hands smoothed over her back as they pulled away slowly, eliciting a shiver from Cheryl as she clamped her legs a little tighter together, looking up at the rain-soaked state of little Toni Topaz.

_Perfection._

**_The love of your goddamn life, Cheryl._ **

“Toni,” She smiled, peeling her eyes over the Vixens shirt clinging to her body, “You’re all wet.”

Toni wiggled her eyebrows teasingly.

Veronica scoffed a laugh.

“I was feeding Jeffrey.” She murmured, placing her hands to her hips with a shrug.

“Oh _please_ don’t tell me that cat is named after a serial killer?” Veronica laughed, tilting her head to the side.

Toni nodded, “Jeffrey Dahmer. Good job, Veronica, you know me well, huh?”

Cheryl smiled.

“Why, TT? Poor thing.”

Toni shrugged again.

“Because he eats _anything_.”

Veronica stood from her seat, tossing back her hair with both hands.

“Oh my _god_ , Toni. You’re twisted, come on.”

Cheryl watched as Veronica moved to reach for Toni’s hand and stopped suddenly, retracting.

“Are these clean of that disease ridden thing?”

Toni rolled her eyes, taking Veronica’s fingers in hers amicably.

Lucky bitch.

“Don’t call him that and _yes,_ Ronnie. How dare you, of course they are.”

Veronica shrugged, glancing down at their joined hands.

“Not the first time you’ve had to wash pussy from your hands though is it?”

There was a beat of silence between them, both girls glancing quickly at Cheryl as Toni’s jaw dropped open in shock, before they erupted into cackles, garnering the attention of the rest of the Vixens.

Cheryl felt a blush heat her face, standing quickly to her feet.

“Alright, Vixens.” She shouted, sending an admonishing glance in Veronica’s direction, “Let’s get started!”

 

 

 

 

 

“At ease, ladies. Not an entirely terrible practice, I suppose. Showers, _now_.” Cheryl ordered, wiping the back of her hand across her dripping forehead as she stepped across to Toni, trailing behind the group.

“TT, a word?”

Toni stopped, turning to her with a soft smile and nodded.

“Sure, Cher. Anything.”

Oh god there she went again, looking at Cheryl as if she were the _only_ thing in the world.

_You’re inspiring, Cheryl._

_Unstoppable._

Cheryl merely smiled back for a moment, wringing her hands in front of her.

Toni waited patiently as she always did, swaying her shoulders playfully as she stepped closer.

“Toni, I have something to ask you.”

Toni smirked.

“What, Cher? You have a crush on me or something?”

Cheryl glanced down at Toni’s hand, noting the scuff on her wrist from an accidental kick from Betty during practice and laughed.

“Yes, actually. Rather a colossal one.” She murmured, taking Toni’s hand in hers and running her thumb soothingly over the red mark.

She lifted her gaze to meet hers and felt her chest melt.

_Unstoppable, Cheryl._

_In control._

“Are you ready, TT?” She whispered, biting her red lip, “I know I am. I think, or rather I _hope_ , that we are. Are you?”

Thankfully deciding to forego any attempts at playing dumb, Toni’s face appeared to flash with understanding, her little fingers squeezing Cheryl’s gently as she nodded her head.

“Totally, Cher.” She murmured, hope clear in her eyes, “Yeah, I really am.”

Cheryl grinned, taking a deep breath.

“Would you, then, like to return to live with me at Thistlehouse, Toni? Perhaps, rekindle our relationship to its full status once again?”

Toni’s smile encompassed her face greedily, her other hand drifting its fingers along Cheryl’s arm to take hold of hers.

“You asking me to be your girlfriend again, Cher?”

Cheryl nodded, swallowing.

Toni’s teeth peeked out from behind her smile, an eyebrow quirking playfully in Cheryl’s direction.

“Is this because I sent you that video last night? Cos if I’d have known that some more nudes were all it would take then we could’ve had this over with a _long_ time ag-”

“Toni, _hush_.” Cheryl chuckled, rolling her eyes into her head, “Not that I’d ever want to stand in the way of you continuing to send me things of that nature, but, of course the real reason is that I miss you. And I _know_ this to be the right time for me, TT. For us. If you’re ready, Toni, then my door, and my arms, and my _heart_ are open for you.”

Toni’s eyes softened as she tangled their fingers together, **_that look_** searing unmistakably from her gaze.

“Are you sure?” She whispered, her wide eyes searching Cheryl’s. “Because I can wait, Cheryl, I promise. I can wait forever for you.”

Oh _god_.

The love of her **life.**

“I’m so sure, TT.” Cheryl insisted, “Thank you. But, this is right. **We** are right. And, in my opinion, we belong together.”

Toni tugged on her arms, bringing her to her damp body and took her face in her little hands, flicking her eyes between hers.

“Always, Cheryl Blossom.” She murmured, a slight smile tipping at her mouth as she stroked her thumbs across her cheeks, “Fuck, I’m so in love with you, my god. You are just… _everything._ ”

The rain eased its assault on the roof above them, the thunder long since passed.

“And I, TT.” Cheryl smiled, eyes drifting to Toni’s lips, “There’s no reason that we should be apart any longer. I love you and you love me. We’ll be _unstoppable_.”

_The love of your life, Cheryl._

**_Coming home_ ** _._

 

 

 

Cheryl lay comfortably on her back, running her hands slowly across the skin of Toni’s ribs beneath her t-shirt, drifting her fingers delicately over the curves of the bones as the evening sun finally disappeared behind the earth, tilting her bedroom into shadowed candlelight.

She was back.

She had her here.

Toni was home.

The smell of the damp grass from outside hung sharply in the air as a breeze cooled the room and she shifted slightly, earning a grunt from the girl lying on top of her, her little head wriggling in the crook of Cheryl’s neck.

Cheryl turned her head, dragging her fingertips lightly across Toni’s back and felt the nimble, tanned fingers of a hand tickling lightly at her side, the other delving deeply into red hair, scratching a soft rhythm against her scalp. She smiled, pressing her full lips to Toni’s neck gently and peppering tender kisses to the soft skin.

 _Touch_.

Toni’s breath drafted warmly across her shoulder, wisps of pink hair prickling at her temple.

 **Perfection**.

She threaded her arms around Toni’s slim back and squeezed her gently in a languorous embrace, earning herself a sequential groan of appreciation, kiss to the shoulder and a firm, reciprocate squeeze in return.

 **_Control_ ** _._

Toni was **home**.

“Did you see the rainbow in the sky when I arrived, Cher?” A little voice croaked smoothly into Cheryl’s neck, lips brushing deliciously against pale skin as they spoke.

Cheryl smiled, closing her eyes, winding her arms completely around her and humming against Toni’s shoulder as she rubbed her nose into softly, pecking a meaningful kiss there.

 “I did.” She affirmed quietly, pressing the side of her head against Toni’s, “Seemed as if the storm passed whilst you were at your Serpent meeting.”

Toni grunted.

“Just in time for getting here.”

 Just in time, indeed.

Cheryl trailed a path of kisses over the slim muscles of Toni’s neck, round the contour of her jaw and across the doughy softness of her freckled cheek, smiling against the skin as Toni complied to pull her head back and join her in a meeting of the lips.

Bare touched red in a soft, pillowed pressure of satisfaction, the amalgamation of _too many_ days apart, resting in a snug perfection before retreating back lazily to dive back in time and time again, meeting and moving and tugging together in a measured, dreamy exactness that set two hearts beating mere inches apart from one another, and spurred a peaceful infatuation within two souls of which neither could ever grow tired.

Toni turned her head a degree to the left to accommodate a more intimate angle and Cheryl sighed through her nose, pulling her tighter still against her body.

They ceased slowly, with a placid smack of the lips, and returned to their previous positions of nestled comfort.

_Perfection._

“You know I read once that the ancient Celts believed the rainbow to be a symbol of new beginnings.” Cheryl murmured, a long pale leg curling happily around the back of Toni’s, “A sign of new life brought about by ‘the divine feminine’.”

She felt Toni smile against her jaw.

“I love listening to you talk smart.” She muffled into the pillow, “And I think ‘divine femininity’ is a damn good way to describe us.”

Cheryl nodded in agreement, scraping clipped, red nails across the skin of her back.

“To new beginnings, TT.”

Toni hummed.

“New beginnings.”

Cheryl’s clock ticked a timely metronome count to their breathing as it synched together, in and out, in and out, their bodies moving in time together as it buoyed them softly up and down.

“You think it’s possible to love someone forever, Cheryl?” Toni whispered into the silence, her face hidden against Cheryl’s neck as she reached up a small hand blindly to stroke delicately at Cheryl’s hair.

“Yes,” Cheryl murmured, opening her eyes to stare at the canopy of her bed above them and watch the shadows dancing in the flickering candlelight, “I didn’t use to. But I do now.”

Toni paused for a moment, her fingers curling red hair around Cheryl’s ear.

“Me too,” She finally agreed, nuzzling her nose to the bend of Cheryl’s jaw, “I think I’ll love you forever.”

Cheryl’s heart swelled in her chest, a deep breath stretching at her lungs as she held tightly to Toni and let a grin spread itself liberally across her face.

_The love of your life._

“Am I privileged enough to be the first person to witness _The_ Toni Topaz getting gooey over romantic sentimentality?” She teased lightly, turning her head to glance at Toni’s face.

Toni rolled her eyes, flattening her palm against Cheryl’s head and stroking her thumb to her cheekbone.

“Not the _first_.” She corrected, a smile hooking at her lips as she licked them slowly, “But I’d wager pretty confidently that you’ll be the last.”

Cheryl caught her eyes and held them, lifting a hand to tug at pink curls.

“Just don’t tell anyone, Cher. I have a reputation to uphold.”

Cheryl chuckled.

“Secret’s safe with me, TT. But how can you be sure that those who came before me will never tell?”

Toni shrugged one shoulder, carefully not to catch Cheryl’s chin in its path.

“I killed them.”

Cheryl’s chest bounced in a laugh, her wide smile mirroring that of Toni’s.

_Unstoppable._

“I’m so glad you’re here, Toni.” She whispered, shifting closer, their noses touching lightly.

“Me too, Cher. For real.”

The light tinkling of a bell sounded out from down the hallway and Cheryl sighed, watching a smirk sprout at the edges of Toni’s lips.

“Sounds like Nana Rose is ready for her _favorite_ reader.” She chuckled smugly, pushing herself away from Cheryl with a groan. “What was it she called it again? Her ‘ _daily dose of smut’_?”

Cheryl grimaced, running a hand through her hair.

“Do not repeat those words to me ever again please. Even the notion is simply too vile. Now be gone, you vulgar Serpent.”

“Try not to miss me too much.”

“Never, TT. Never.”

 

 

 

 


	42. Speaking Latin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey. Well. No excuses. This is pure smut. Literally all smut. Skip it if it's not your thing, you won't miss anything because, literally, it's just fucking smutty smut. I will likely burn in hell for this, I have no idea where it even came from. It's just smut. Enjoy, folks.

 

 

 

Cheryl stirred her spoon into the cocoa with a smile, adding a dash of crème liqueur, and tossing her hair over her shoulder as she heard the door to her bedroom creak open gently.

“Did Nana Rose enjoy her book?” She posed softly, hearing a floorboard creak underfoot as Toni crept into the room.

“Doesn’t she always when I'm the one reading it?”

Cheryl rolled her eyes.

“I thought I’d make us cocoa for your first night back, as you’d grown so accustomed to it at Veronica’s, would you care for a dash of liqueur, my love-”

She turned as she spoke, her words falling short in her mouth as she happened upon the sight of Toni stepping out of her jeans, her hair cascading into her face.

The true surprise of it all, of course, that really deadened her tongue, came as she raised her little head, a pair of neat, black spectacles sitting perched upon her face.

She was wearing her reading glasses.

 _Finally_.

Cheryl dragged her gaze over them, noting the sleek maturity which they provided to the usually so free-spirited Toni and she sucked in a small gasp, swallowing it thickly.

Fuck.

“Yeah, thanks, Cher. That’s sweet of you. I’ll take whatever.” Toni murmured, bundling her jeans into a ball and tossing them onto an empty chair, glancing quizzically at Cheryl.

She watched as Toni’s eyes flitted slowly over the pale skin of her legs that poked out from beneath her nightgown and she bristled, placing the spoon onto the tray behind her.

“What?” Toni tested slowly, an eyebrow crawling up her forehead.

Cheryl scraped her bottom lip between her teeth, replacing the slim strap of her nightwear as it slipped gently from her shoulder.

“You’re wearing your glasses.” She explained with laboured breath, her fingers twitching restlessly at her sides, “I’ve never seen them before.”

A smirk grew quickly across Toni’s face as she crossed her arms over her chest, her t-shirt riding up ever so slightly with the movement to expose a small portion of tanned, toned stomach to Cheryl’s eager eyes.

“Don’t tell me even _these_ do it for you too, Cheryl?”

Cheryl stepped over to her slowly, Toni’s arms unwinding to hang next to her thighs, and reached up to hook pink hair behind Toni’s ear.

“Don’t blame me,” Cheryl murmured lowly, taking a moment to further examine the complementary nature of the glasses on Toni’s face, “You’re the one looking like _this_ in everything you wear.”

The words were both accusatory and complimentary and Toni seemed to notice this, a light chuckle ghosting from her mouth and over Cheryl’s face as pale fingers lifted to take the frames delicately from her head. Locking eyes with Toni, Cheryl threw them gently onto a nearby chair and drifted a finger slowly along Toni’s jawline, down the slender curve of her throat to dip teasingly into the rounded neck of her t-shirt.

Toni's chest quivered beneath her touch, her eyes growing dark.

“I’m not putting my serpent jacket on for you tonight, Cheryl.”

Cheryl bit her lip, hands trailing over Toni’s bare stomach to hook into the front of her t-shirt.

“Good. I’d prefer you to be taking _off_ rather than putting on, Toni.”

She watched the dim light of her candelabra tint brown skin into beautifully tonal contours and glanced at Toni’s mouth as she gripped her pink bottom lip between her neat teeth.

Cheryl tugged her forward, leaning her head down slowly to steal the lip between her own, groaning quietly into Toni’s mouth and winding her hands around Toni’s slim back, smoothing them around the front to squeeze her breasts lightly and earning a small whimper against her lips.

Toni wrapped her hands around Cheryl’s forearms, thumbs stroking gently at the white skin and anchored herself to them as she pulled back her mouth, just an inch, with a loud smack.

“Wait, you want this? You’re ready for it?” She rasped, her lips stroking Cheryl’s as she spoke and sending a thrill down Cheryl’s spine as they met each other’s eyes.

Cheryl felt Toni push her hands more firmly to her breasts and she nodded, red hair tumbling from her shoulder as she did to tickle her cheeks, squeezing another greedily appreciative handful to Toni’s chest.

“No, Cher. Say it. I need verbal consent.”

Cheryl glanced her eyes between Toni’s, noting the barely restrained patience, and rubbed her thumbs across the front of Toni’s breasts, feeling the nipples harden through the thin fabric of her bra.

“Yes, I _want_ it.” She purred, biting her red lip with a quiet groan as she slid her hands along Toni’s ribs and around her hips to her backside, palming at it gluttonously. She leaned forward, running her tongue along Toni’s bottom lip before enveloping her mouth with a slow, teasing kiss, feeling her little body sink into her own willingly. She pulled back, eyes trailing slowly up Toni’s face as their noses brushed gently together. “Do you, TT?”

Toni groaned loudly, her hands suddenly allowing themselves to touch her properly as they clasped eagerly to either side of Cheryl’s head and pulled her back in for a deep kiss, teeth tugging roughly at a red lip.

“Thank _god_ for that, are you fucking kidding me, Cher, it’s all I’ve been fucking thinking about.” She mumbled hurriedly against Cheryl’s mouth between kisses, standing up on her tiptoes to press herself harder to her lips. “God you are so fucking hot.”

Cheryl wasted no time, keen to indulge in that which she had been forbidden for almost two weeks, and reached one of her hands into Toni’s hair, delving in deeply to tug harshly at the roots until she heard Toni’s approving moan, whilst the other hand slid forward and down, fingertips pushing eagerly past the waistband of Toni’s underwear until she could _almost_ feel the heat of _exactly what she wanted_ -

“Nuh-uh.” Toni panted, pulling back from her face quickly and dropping a hand to hinder the path of Cheryl’s. She shook her head, gazing into Cheryl’s frowning eyes, “Not yet, Bombshell.”

Cheryl frowned harder, _almost_ letting out a petulant whine as her hand was pulled clean of Toni’s panties and she was directed backwards to the bed, the backs of her thighs pushing against it. She sat down, gaze trained to Toni’s, and crawled backward to the pillows, pushing herself beneath the sheet as her hooded eyes watched Toni climb over the mattress to join her, hooking a tanned leg over Cheryl’s hips to rest comfortably in her lap.

Oh fuck.

She felt the heat from between Toni’s legs radiating between her own and her breath hitched, staring up at such a goddamn beautiful face, pink curls framing it wildly, and sliding her pale hands over toned thighs to grip the backs of them firmly.

Toni looked down at her, perfect lips parted to allow breathy pants to leave them and reached down to lift Cheryl’s wrists, clasping them firmly in her little hands and pinning them gently to the pillow next to her head.

“Fuck, you are so beautiful.” She whispered, rolling her hips into Cheryl’s slowly as she leaned down to kiss her, Cheryl’s words getting lost in her mouth.

“Oh god-”

Cheryl closed her eyes, a low moan leaving her throat as she curled her tongue around Toni’s languidly, a warm friction growing between her legs as Toni rubbed herself against it and brown thighs tightened deliciously around her hips.

 _Jesus_ this girl was worth waiting for.

She arched her chest upwards, humming as it connected with Toni’s and basked in the fresh smell of her soft hair as it curtained around them, wet smacks from lips and low grunts from need emanating gently from beneath its canopy.

 _Touch_.

She felt Toni’s grip on her wrists relax as her little hands released them slowly and slid down her arms, her perfect, comforting weight coming to press down on top of Cheryl as she moved to lie flat over her, a thigh slipping between Cheryl’s legs as her eyes rolled back in her head.

Toni’s mouth pulled slowly from hers, soft lips sucking a wet trail down to the crook of her neck as two skilled hands slid over her chest, pausing briefly to knead her breasts through her silken nightgown before trailing down either side of her body, pushing the hem up her smooth legs to scratch her nails teasingly back forth over the outside of Cheryl’s thighs.

Cheryl’s neck craned backward, her head arched into the pillow as she bit at her lip.

“Oh my _god_ , Toni.”

**_Fuck._ **

She clamped her legs tightly either side of Toni’s and rolled her hips into it, the lack of a fabric barrier of underwear causing skin to touch skin and she pressed closer to Toni’s thigh. Mewling softly into Toni’s hair she felt teeth scraping delicately at her shoulder, plump lips sucking cold air against the skin then encompassing it in a warm, pulling kiss before soft pecks travelled across her breastbone to the base of her throat, crossing over to climb the other side of her neck, a gentle nip tugging at her ear lobe.

“This ok, Cher?” Toni whispered faintly, small hands holding firmly to Cheryl’s thighs as they paused their exploration and Cheryl let out a soft breath through her nose, her arms curling slowly around Toni’s back.

“Of course, TT.” She affirmed just as quietly, red-tipped fingers splaying widely as they slid up and down Toni’s spine.

“How do you want it, Cher?” She rasped into her ear, tongue darting out to lick a warm trail over her pulse and Cheryl shivered, grabbing eagerly at Toni’s right hand and pushing it between her legs.

She felt Toni’s rumbling moan against her skin, a torturous second’s pause ticking by before her hand slipped in front of her thigh and the soft pad of a finger pressed gently to Cheryl’s clit, massaging a slow circle into it.

Cheryl sighed a whimper, her legs dragging smoothly against her bed as she tented the covering sheets to bend the knee that Toni was not straddling and widened her legs as best she could. She felt Toni’s speed increase, as did the pressure, and Cheryl groaned, her hands gripping tightly to the back of a small cotton t-shirt.

“So hot.” Was breathed raggedly into her ear before lips moved to press down firmly onto hers with a hungry urgency, the tips of two fingers now rubbing rapidly back and forth between her legs as she clung to Toni for dear life, tongues meeting briefly through hard, insistent kisses and a guttural moan tearing mutedly from deep in her throat.

Fucking **fucking** _fuck._

Toni relinquished her mouth with a gasped grunt and Cheryl felt the two busy fingers push smoothly inside her, pistoning in and out at a hurried pace as Toni began to grind herself down onto Cheryl’s thigh. Cheryl’s eyes flew open, staring up at the ceiling as they fluttered, and she leaned her head against the side of Toni’s as she burrowed her face into the pillow next to Cheryl.

“Never stopped thinking about you, Cher.” She breathed into Cheryl’s ear, soft pants interrupting her words. “Never. Thought about doing _this_ to you.” She groaned, the sound alone making Cheryl’s eyes fall shut once again, a breathy moan leaving her lips as a third finger moved inside her. “Thought about you fucking _me_ , Cher. How much I love it. How much I wanted it. Wanted you.” Her voice stuttered lightly with the jittering force of her hand and Cheryl’s eyes rolled backward behind their lids, a pleasured frowned creasing her sweating brow as the relentless fingers inside her hooked upwards to press _perfectly_ against just the right spot.

“Oh my _god._ ”

Toni pushed her fingers harder, her hips still rolling eagerly against the soft skin of Cheryl’s leg, and leaned up to kiss her, sucking at Cheryl’s lower lip and releasing it with a tug as she pulled her fingers out suddenly and began to rub them quickly against her clit one again.

Cheryl screwed her eyes up tightly, back arching into Toni.

“Say my name, Cher.” A deep voice commanded against her lips, a pressure building steadily closer between her legs as her mouth was absorbed into another deep kiss. “Say it.”

Cheryl panted, one hand dropping from Toni’s back to grip harshly into the sheet and her hips rolled up to press further into Toni’s fingers as she kept her pace diligently.

“Cheryl, say my name.” Toni repeated firmly, her voice croaking tightly in her throat.

Cheryl felt a shiver travel over her body, her limbs tightening and her back curling as her legs suddenly shook and the building heat finally burst forth.

“Toni, _fuck._ ” She moaned, her head pushing back harshly into the pillow as her body bucked up into Toni’s, shudders wracking at it as she rode out the pleasure with spasming muscles and high-pitched breaths until finally, _finally_ , she felt the waves subsiding, the hand between her legs slowly pulling away and her arms flopping blearily onto the bed.

Holy.

Fucking.

Shit.

_Control._

She panted harshly, her chest bobbing rapidly up and down as she tried to calm her breathing and her legs fell heavily to the bed, immobile for a moment.

“Oh my god, TT.”

She opened her eyes slowly, Toni’s flushed face looking down at her, the familiar red smears of Cheryl’s lipstick messed attractively at her lips.

Cheryl blinked, once, then twice, and let out a breathless chuckle.

“You… are simply amazing.” She lauded, a grin stretching carefully at her ruined red lips, her eyes surveying Toni’s face with a light frown. “What, TT? What is it?”

A smirk wormed slowly across Toni’s mouth.

“I made you swear, Cher.”

Cheryl raised an eyebrow, confused.

“Pardon?” She huffed, her breathing beginning to slow to normal.

Toni bit her own lip.

“Cheryl Blossom, I made you say a curse word. I have _never_ heard you curse in the whole time I’ve known you.”

Cheryl cast her mind back to the brief second before her orgasm had come storming through her body and realized with wide eyes that, indeed, Toni had made her curse.

Her strict upper-class upbringing had forbidden such language, especially from a young woman, and when in company she had only ever sworn within the freedom of her own mind.

Until now.

Until Toni.

A liberating, uninhibited verbal _scuff_.

“Hush your mouth, Cha-Cha.” She reprimanded, lifting a weary hand to push Toni’s hair from her face as she watched the smirk growing wider upon it, “You had better not let this bolster your already inflated ego, TT, and you had _certainly_ not expect it to become a regular occurrence. Do you understand? It was a one-time anomaly and nothing more.”

Toni laughed, pressing a smug kiss to her lips.

“Whatever you say, Cher.”

She rolled off to the side, biting her lip as she ran her eyes over Cheryl and Cheryl felt the heat inside her flicker back to life, eyes narrowing.

“Oh well whilst we’re in the business of skilled linguistics, let’s see if I can’t pleasure you to the point of speaking some Latin, shall we?” She purred, slinking her body across Toni’s to slide between her legs.

Toni’s smirk faltered somewhat, her thighs gripping to Cheryl’s body as her eyes grew dark.

“You know I can’t speak any Latin, Cher.” She breathed, biting her lip with anticipation.

Cheryl grinned, slipping her underwear down her legs slowly, watching Toni’s eyes flutter shut as she moved to rest her head between her thighs.

“Well in that case, TT,” She murmured, gripping red nails into brown thighs as she lathed her tongue keenly over Toni’s clit, a rumbled moan pricking at her ears and small hands fisting gently into her hair, “I suppose _my_ mouth will have to do all the work.”

_Perfection._

 

 

 


	43. Circummulceo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More smut y'all. A continuation. Thanks again for sticking with this! getting closer to the end, but this is hella soft for you too, to buffer the inevitable when it finally arrives. Enjoy!

 

 

 

“Just getting straight to it huh?” Toni grunted, a gentle hiss spitting through her teeth as her back rolled into a more comfortable position on the bed, her thighs touching lightly the sides of Cheryl’s head, “Not easing into it?”

Cheryl looked up at her face, dragging her tongue in a slow swipe along Toni’s folds. Drawing her tongue back into her mouth, she hummed distractedly and languidly rolled it around to savour the taste, sucking at the wetness on her lower lip.

“I’m no longer the ingénue, Toni. Nigh on a seasoned professional I would say.” She murmured smugly, lips pulling into a smirk as she pushed her tongue past them to dip lightly inside Toni, her eyes rolling back in her head as her groan harmonised perfectly with the raspy one emanating from the perfect, parted lips above her.

_You’re a natural, Cheryl._

“No need to ease myself into it, TT.”

Cheryl watched Toni’s hips twitch as she lathed her tongue to her clit again and felt little fingers relaxing in her red hair.

“Right, cos you’re the only one involved here, Cher.” She grunted, sucking her bottom lip between her teeth.

Cheryl’s tongue halted, her fingers loosening their grip on smooth, brown thighs.

Oh shit.

“TT, I’m so sorry.” She breathed, lifting her head to see Toni opening her eyes and catching her gaze, “I didn’t even think. My god, I should’ve-”

“Cheryl, no.” Toni chuckled, frowning. “You’re good, Cher. I was just kidding. Seriously. I was being snarky as a joke, like always. It was dumb. I’m not complaining, Cher, how could I? You’re eating m-”

“No.” Cheryl insisted, sitting up a little and noting Toni’s sigh of frustration as she untangled her hands from Cheryl’s hair and dropped them to the bed. “No, Toni. Don’t huff like that. You’re right. We’ve not been intimate lately and yet here I am, storming ahead.”

_You’ve got all the time in the world, Little Bird._

_She’s not going anywhere._

She crawled over her body, pale, silk covered hips pushing Toni’s thighs apart as she lowered herself down softly and leaned up on her forearms.

Red lacquered fingertips pushed pink hair from her forehead and Cheryl draped her eyes over Toni’s face, pretty eyes staring up at her through thick, dark lashes.

_The love of your goddamn life, Cheryl._

“So pretty.” Cheryl whispered, taking time to observe the plumply angled Cupid’s bow adorning the bottom of a smooth philtrum and lowered her head to peck her lips to it gently.

“You’re always saying that.” Toni sighed, their lips brushing together as she stared up at Cheryl with marvelled adoration.

Cheryl nodded, brushing her nose ghostingly to Toni’s cheek as she did.

“Because you are.”

She felt a small hand reach up to push her hair back from her face and the other came to join it, resting steadily on either side of Cheryl’s head as two legs curled familiarly around her waist.

Toni pulled her down for a slow kiss, their lips meeting sumptuously and trembling together in the sharing of a satiated hum.

Toni ushered her head back, parting their mouths and wetting her own with a pink tongue.

“Cher, I was kidding about you easing into it. I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. Really, you can just go back to-”

Cheryl hushed her with another eager kiss, her lips pressing hard to Toni’s before pulling back with a wet smack, sucking at her lower lip for good measure.

“Toni, what you did.” She murmured softly, staring down at the pretty mist of red dots spattering below the skin of Toni’s lip as the blood rushed back to the swollen surface, “What you showed me. How you’ve acted in the face of our trialled time,” She paused, meeting Toni’s eyes, “You deserve every _second_ to be deliberate.”

_You’re inspiring, Cheryl._

**_Unstoppable._ **

For all of Toni’s street smarts and life experience and worldly cynicism, there was one look, one look of vulnerable, innocent awe that she blessed upon _solely_ Cheryl alone. When her cadence was particularly verbose or her words especially articulate or her touches just soft enough, just meaningful enough, to remind Toni that not every brush with life came in the form of a hard knock. She would gazed at her – as she was doing now - pretty brown eyes staring wide and trusting, and her textured pink lip tucked charmingly between her teeth and she would look at Cheryl with such unquestioning devotion. Such intrinsic love. An openness and willingness to show her truest, deepest sincerities with nothing but a simple glance.

The flames of the candelabra licked flightily at the glassy reflection in her eyes and Cheryl smiled, utterly and entirely content.

_This is peace, Cheryl._

_You’ve found your control._

_Your final scuff._

“I love you, Cheryl.”

Cheryl felt the weight of the words in her chest and the breath of them on her face as her smile grew wider, tilting her head to the side to push a full kiss to Toni’s willing mouth, rolling her tongue slowly past her lips and groaning as it met another.

**_The love of your life._ **

She trailed a hand over Toni’s thigh, pale fingers tugging friction to the soft skin as they made their way upwards, smoothing her palm slowly over a toned stomach to knead at Toni’s breast. The hips beneath Cheryl’s ground up into hers and a breathy sigh left Toni’s throat as she pushed back into her hand.

Cheryl’s breathing began to hitch and she pulled back with a quiet gasp, nipping her way gently from her lower lip to her chin and lathing a wet trail down Toni’s throat with her tongue.

“Enough incessant conversation, I have work to be done.” Cheryl muttered, trailing off into a groan as she shifted down Toni’s body, pushing her little t-shirt up to her ribs and kissing soft, teasing pecks down the centre of a taut abdomen that quivered it’s approving thanks against her lips with each affectionate meeting of their skin.

Cheryl scraped her teeth to the soft patch beneath Toni’s navel and she wriggled beneath her insatiably, knotting nimble fingers into Cheryl’s hair as her breaths began to slide from her lungs as ragged pants.

Dragging the path of her lips to the right, Cheryl nuzzled them tenderly to the skin of Toni’s hip and pressed a languorous, deliberate kiss to the small blot of skin depicting her Serpent tattoo.

_Your final scuff._

“Cher.”

An insistent prod.

Indulging her, Cheryl relaxed back into her original position between Toni’s thighs and opened her mouth, lapping her tongue against her, slowly to start, and watched as Toni’s head coiled back on the pillow, her mouth parting in a guttural groan.

Perfection.

Cheryl inched forward to flick her tongue quickly at Toni’s clit, a hand clamping at her hair instantly and holding her in place as hips came up to meet her mouth. She relaxed her smirking lips to wrap them gently around it and caressed her tongue to it lazily, her eyes fluttering shut as she let the sounds of Toni’s tonal depth and gruff moans and the grip of her desperate hands spur her keen mouth’s movements, the sensory bombardment sending prickles across her pale skin.

“Shit, Cher. _Fuck_.” Toni gasped, her slender back arching slightly off the mattress.

Cheryl hummed against her and dug her clipped nails into the skin of Toni’s thighs, opening her eyes as a whimper sounded out from Toni’s mouth.

“Does that hurt?” She whispered, rolling her tongue between Toni’s folds.

“Kinda.” Toni breathed airily, the shuffle of her hair rustling against the pillow as she nodded her head.

Cheryl stopped, lapping her tongue out and digging her fingers in again.

“Did you like it?”

Toni panted for the beat of two breaths before nodding again.

“Kinda.”

Cheryl inched the pressure of her fingertips further into the willing muscle of Toni’s thighs and the hands in her hair gripped harder, her mouth encompassing Toni’s clit once more to lick rapidly at it with her tongue, sucking a hard rhythm against it as Toni bucked up fitfully beneath her.

“Don’t stop don’t stop don’t stop” Toni chanted breathily, her prayers dutifully answered as Cheryl continued on, watching – enraptured -from below.

_You’re a natural, Cheryl._

Thighs clamped to her head and hips twitched beneath her mouth as Toni let out a final moan, the rumbling timbre of its pleasured authenticity buzzing deliciously at Cheryl’s ears.

Looking up at a panting chest Cheryl pulled her mouth away, cleaning it swiftly with a well-practised swipe of her tongue.

“Fuck, Cheryl.”

Cheryl smirked, manoeuvring over her spent body to peck Toni’s lips before shifting off to her side.

“Toni Topaz, I made you _curse_.” She mocked, repeating Toni’s words back to her, and chuckling lightly as she reached down to pull the covers over them.

She rested her head upon the pillow, raking her gaze over the rounded silhouette of Toni’s profile.

“Yeah, yeah. Get your own material.” Toni grunted, the visible side of her lips pulling upwards into a smirk.

She relaxed her breathing carefully and Cheryl watched her chest gradually rising and falling slower before she turned onto her side to face her, tucking a hand beneath pink hair upon which to rest her cheek.

Cheryl stared, enamoured.

“Welcome home, TT.”

Toni smiled.

“Thanks, Cher.”

Cheryl reached out a hand to stroke a finger against her cheek.

“You know, I don’t simply mean it as some vacuously fitting idiom, Toni. I truly mean it. Welcome **home** , TT. Thistlehouse is your _home_. You know that, don’t you?”

Toni’s smile faltered a little, that look of pure, wondered awe seeping onto her face.

She tugged at her lip, her petite throat bobbing as she swallowed.

“I think of you as my ‘home’, Cher.”

The love of your life, Little Bird.

Cheryl traced freckled features with adoring eyes and drank in the sight greedily with a sigh.

“Perfect.”

 

 

 

 


	44. Pure Soul.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heeeeeeeeyyyy, guys. this took a little longer than I thought it would but it's just fluffy, important, loving shit for you that ties off a few things nicely. it is NOT the last chapter. it is potentially the penultimate but it is NOT THE LAST. there is still more to come. so enjoy this, i hope you do. and let me know your thoughts. thank you, much love.   
> ps - ive made a tumblr, wholenny.tumblr.com. very recently purely just to keep an eye on my work throughout the fandom, however if you want to follow me or message me, go ahead. by all means don't bother, i'm not sure how often i'll use it but i thought i'd just let you know. Also, disclaimer, I wont be taking/doing any requests sent to me, nor will i be responding to anything akin to 'when are you updating?' even with the best of intentions in mind. cool, peace out.

 

 

 

“I am sensing such strongly queer vibes from this table that were I not about to sit here anyway, I would have ditched the hetero crowd and eaten lunch with you, ladies.”

Kevin’s soft words twitched a grin to Cheryl’s face as he swung a long leg over his seat opposite her, next to Toni, and placed his tray onto the cafeteria table with a characteristic gentleness.

She watched Toni deftly clamp a hand to Kevin’s yogurt pot as it began to roll off the table and replaced it for him quickly, drifting her pretty eyes up to the height of his face.

“You’ve brought the straight crowd with you huh, Kevin?” Toni chuckled raspily, spreading Cheryl’s lips across her own face in a wider smile.

“Yes. Well, ‘The Straights’ _and_ Veronica.” He joked, glancing at their faces conspiratorially as the rest of the group came to join, swarming around them in a well-practiced formation and taking their seats.

“Archiekins, what are you doing? I’m next to Toni.”

Cheryl rolled her eyes at Veronica’s tone.

“Chill out, Ronnie. Maybe I wanna sit with Toni-”

“-Are we _really_ going to have this conversation right here, right now, Archie? Because I have a lot of shit I can say.”

“What are you talking about-”

“Jesus, Archie. Just move.”

Betty’s contribution from Cheryl’s left; weakly made but obeyed nonetheless.

Cheryl glanced at Toni, who was watching with amused eyes as the couple switched places, and Veronica reached out to bop a finger beneath her freckled chin gently with a smile.

Cheryl smirked, sharing a look with Kevin.

You can have that _one_ , Veronica. For now.

Toni beamed, turning back to her sandwich.

_Ugh, the audacity of her to be so damn cute._

“Goddamn, can it be summer already?” Josie sighed from her position at the end of the table, picking the tomato slice from her burger with a grimace and tossing it onto Jughead’s plate.

“Right?” Betty empathised, rolling her eyes as she laid one arm across the table in front of her and stabbed her fork into her pasta, “Just one more week and we’re free.”

“Friends, please, why so mournful?” Veronica chastised, a scheming smirk tipping at her mouth, “We shouldn’t be lamenting the time we have left, we should planning a way to _celebrate_.” She leaned her tanned elbow onto the table and waggled dark brows above wide eyes as she sucked a grape into her mouth with a neat ‘pop’. “Who’s down for a fucking blow out party?”

The group’s attention perked, a sequence of heads lifting in Archie’s direction.

He chowed messily on his mouthful and shook his head, licking some mayonnaise from his lips as he waved a dismissive hand.

“No way. The last party got out of hand, guys. There were German _backpackers_ in my kitchen. Like, what the fuck?”

“Dutch.” Jughead corrected, “There were _Dutch_ backpackers in your kitchen.”

Archie swallowed, frowning.

“Whatever. My dad has a ban on parties right now, I’m not doing it.”

Josie whined from the opposite side of the table.

“Oh come _on,_ Archie. It was legendary, are you really going to miss out on throwing another high-school career defining event like that?”

Cheryl watched a crooked smile inch up Archie’s handsome face.

“It **was** legendary.” He conceded, reaching for his water bottle, “But no, guys. I can’t. Someone else is gonna have to step up.”

“Well, obviously my house is a no-go.” Kevin contributed, tugging lightly on the collar of his shirt to pull it out from his sweater, “Unless you’re all happy to indulge in underage drinking in the Sheriff’s home?”

The group grunted.

“Same goes for mine, The Mayor is hardly gonna give her blessing to have drunk teenagers screwing in her guest rooms.”

“Josie. Gross.”

“Oh Betty, girl, lighten up.”

Betty shifted in her seat.

“Well, there are currently two babies living at mine, so… not a lot I can help with either. But maybe we don’t need a big party? Maybe we can all just go to Pop’s and-”

“Oh my _God_ , Dear Cousin. Didn’t Josie just inform you to lighten _up_?”

Cheryl caught Betty’s disapproving frown and rolled her eyes, clamping her ankles either side of Toni’s calf beneath the table.

“Agreed, B. Don’t be such a fucking killjoy.” Veronica drawled, sitting up straight, “I suppose I could do some digging into hosting it at The Pembrooke, but I don’t know how I’ll get _everyone_ past the doorman without my parents hearing about-”

“Excusez-moi.” Cheryl interrupted, whipping some hair over her shoulder and ignoring Betty’s annoyed splutter as it hit her in the face. “But why are we avoiding the obvious here?”

She noted Toni’s frown as she glanced around at the vacant faces of her friends.

She rolled her eyes.

“Indeed, Archie. Your last party was definitively, ‘legendary,’”

Mainly, for her, due to the presence of the perfect little person seated opposite.

“However,” Cheryl continued, pulling her lips into a tight smile, “You merely provided the location. I believe it was _I_ who provided the people, the ambience, the word through the grapevine, the social media gravitas and the reputation. I even procured the beer kegs. You _hosted_ the party, Archiekins, but I _made_ it.”

She turned to look at Toni who was smirking proudly in her direction, sliding her leg between Cheryl’s comfortingly.

“Your point, Cheryl?” Betty sighed.

“My _point_ , Barbie-Mr Hyde.” Cheryl replied pointedly, placing her hands on the table and nesting her fingers together, “is that this party should be held at Thistlehouse. There are no authority figures, or doormen, or _babies_ ,” She glanced a sluggish look at Betty, “It will be the perfect venue, _I_ will be the perfect host and, dare I say it, it will be the **_best_** party yet.”

A chorus of nods followed a very brief pause and Cheryl saw Veronica break out into a grin as she wrapped a brown arm around Toni’s shoulders, pulling her into her side.

“Well, well, Toni. Looks like you’re hosting the end of year party.”

Cheryl smiled, nodding to her.

“What do you think, TT?”

All eyes turned to Toni as she shrugged her little shoulders beneath Veronica’s arm.

“Yeah, sure. I dunno, it’s not my ho-” She stopped herself as she seemed to note Cheryl’s face falling and cleared her throat.

_It’s your home too, TT._

“I mean, hell yeah. I’m down.” She corrected, sending a rushing surge through Cheryl’s chest.

She watched Toni grin across at her as Veronica bundled her into a hug and Josie blew a grateful kiss in Cheryl’s direction.

“Cheryl Blossom you are simply inspirational.” Kevin professed loudly, placing a hand to his broad chest and taking his water bottle in his hand. “I propose a toast,” He smiled, glancing around at the table, “To the end of school, and to our unstoppable Sapphic Sisters!”

“ **To Sapphic Sisters**.”

Toni caught her gaze as the table reprised their adoring toast and sent a wink in her direction, biting down coyly on a delectably plump lip and dragging Cheryl’s attention to it instantly.

“I love you.” She mouthed silently under the ruckus.

Cheryl smiled.

“I love you too.”

_You’re inspiring, Cheryl._

**_Unstoppable._ **

****

****

 

 

****

“What is taking you so long?”

“Hush, TT.”

“It’s starting, Cher. I’m not pausing it.”

Cheryl leaned forward into her bathroom mirror and squinted her eyes in concentration, drawing a neatly thick layer of red lipstick to her mouth. She pulled back, humming in satisfaction as she glanced her eyes to the perfectly bordered colouring and pressed her lips together to even the coverage, clicking the lid onto her lipstick with a snap.

“I was reapplying my infamous lip rouge, Cha-Cha. It’s not something to be rushed.”

Toni looked up from her spot on the bed, a thin blanket curled shapely around her legs as the light of the laptop by her feet shone a dim glow over her body.

Perfection.

A small frown lined her brow.

“Why?”

Cheryl rolled her eyes.

“Because you don’t rush beauty like this, TT.” Cheryl drawled, wrapping her silken robe around her body tighter and placing a knee to the bed.

“No, Cheryl. Why have you reapplied your fucking lipstick, it’s 10:30 at night, you got a date or something?”

Cheryl watched Toni scoff, her eyes glued to the screen as it flashed a dull blue light across her face and crawled over the bed to lie next to her, leaning her head on her hand.

“Oh, I think you know why, TT.” She chuckled darkly, a menacing grin eclipsing her face as Toni turned to her with pleading eyes.

“Oh shit. Cher, not this again, _please_?” She begged weakly, sighing as Cheryl took her face in her hands firmly and turned her onto her back.

“MmmHmm.” Cheryl hummed with a nod, chuckling as a small smile broke onto Toni’s face.

“That shit is like asbestos, Cher. It takes so long to take off.”

Cheryl leaned down eagerly, clamping Toni’s head in her hands as she placed a full kiss to the middle of her forehead, lingering there for a moment before pulling back and admiring the bright red lip mark tattooed freshly to the dark skin.

Ugh, _art_.

“You’re a blank canvas that needs painting, TT.” She murmured, pecking random kisses over the curve of Toni’s temple, along her hairline and down the other side of her face.

“I hate this game.” Toni sighed, a belying chuckle rumbling through her lips as Cheryl continued her merciless assault over the bridge of her nose.

“Canvases don’t talk, as I recall, Toni.” Cheryl mumbled between kisses, gazing proudly at the scattering of cracked lipstick stains growing across the expanse of Toni’s soft cheek.

She delved her pale fingers into Toni’s hair, massaging her way through the thick curls to scratch gently at her scalp, earning a gruff groan in reward. Pulling back, she placed a leg between Toni’s and leaned half of her body down onto her, watching as Toni’s eyes fluttered slowly shut and a soft sigh left her nose.

“You still hate it?” Cheryl whispered against her skin, kissing a soothing path over the bend of her chin and up to her other cheek.

Toni grunted croakily.

Cheryl smiled, thumbs stroking tenderly back and forth against the line of hair by Toni’s ear and draped her eyes over her red-dappled face. She watched thick lashes twitching over closed, tired eyes and trailed her gaze over Toni’s nose, pecking a kiss to the tip of it. Her smile widened as she spied Toni’s own lips tipping at the edges and she lowered her head to kiss the undulating curves of her top lip, a contented groan sighing out from her as the soft skin caught between her lips.

She pulled back, barely a hairsbreadth, nudging her nose gently to Toni’s and felt the tickle of Toni’s soft exhales against her lips.

“You’re perfect and I love you.” Cheryl whispered, watching Toni’s eyebrow tilt upwards on her face.

“Sounds like something I’m usually saying to you.” She rasped in reply, opening her eyes and flicking them down to Cheryl’s lips.

“Well, exactly, Toni. It shouldn’t be that way, I should say it more often.”

She watched as Toni rolled her eyes, two hands pressing against her back.

“You say it plenty, Cheryl. Shut up.”

She felt herself pulled down into a slow kiss, lips parting and meeting, unhurried and sticky, the brief flick of a wet tongue pushing teasingly against her own.

Toni pushed against her, rolling out from underneath her.

“TT-”

“No, Cher. Seriously, I need to wash this off my face before I break out, you’ve had your fun.”

“Let me at least take a picture.”

Toni let out a low laugh, turning to Cheryl as she sat up on the bed.

“Alright, _fine_. Hurry up.” She smirked, rolling her eyes as Cheryl’s phone flashed a snap of her. “Jesus, every fucking time you do this, you must have a whole album of me looking like this or some shit. You better not lose your phone ever.”

Cheryl grinned, peering down at the photo as Toni trotted into the bathroom, and heard the water running, wiping at her smudged mouth with the back of her hand.

“Toni, that reminds me, I have something to show you.”

“Huh?”

Cheryl sucked in a breath to raise her voice.

“I have something for you.”

Toni emerged from the bathroom with a towel to her face and sniffed, peering over at Cheryl in the low light.

“What is it, Cher?”

Smirking, Cheryl bit her lip and rose from the bed, turning her back to Toni.

“Do you remember some months ago, I asked your permission to draw you?”

She slipped her sketchbook out from the top drawer of her vanity and closed it slowly with a dull scraping of mahogany wood.

“Yeah, Cher. I do.”

She could _hear_ the smile in Toni’s words.

Clasping the book tightly in her hands she turned, presenting it upwards and outstretched.

“It’s finally finished, TT.” She whispered.

She saw a brightness light Toni’s eyes as they widened excitedly, the towel falling abandoned to the floor.

Cheryl rolled her eyes; no doubt _she’d_ be the one to have to pick it up.

The paper disappeared quickly from her hands and she watched as Toni flipped through to the end, her face dropping as she peered down at the immaculate sketch of her. It was a graphite drawing of Toni lounging on the grass outside of school. Cheryl had emblazoned the image of such a beautifully soft, relaxed, sun kissed Toni reclining in the haze of a summer breeze as she’d sat at a lunch bench with Veronica and discussed the very real possibility that Toni was, indeed, in love with her.

_Bullseye._

The sheer weight of such a realisation, combined with the damn near ethereal prettiness that Toni had exuded, captured a flashbulb snapshot within Cheryl’s brain that would reside there forever, matched only by the replication of its twin in gray pencil within the pages of her sketchbook.

“Do you like it?”

Toni remained silent, her eyes working diligently to absorb every inch of the page, one hand drifting a delicate finger across the shaded lines.

Cheryl bit her lip.

Toni shook her head.

“Cher, you drew this?” she breathed, looking up at her.

Cheryl nodded.

Toni blinked.

“Cheryl this looks like a fucking photograph.” Toni frowned, shaking her head again, “No, no it doesn’t, it’s like… it’s like it _feels_ as real as a photograph but like, there’s _soul_ in it.”

Cheryl frowned this time, stepping closer.

“Your photographs have soul, Toni. They’re utterly beautiful.”

Toni ignored her.

“Cher, I didn’t even know real people could do shit like this. You know what I mean? Like you see well-known art and shit and you’re like, yeah but they’re _famous_ but this is… Cher I can’t believe it.”

Cheryl felt a heavy fluttering at her chest, watching the genuine honesty of Toni’s words pass over her face.

“Well I’m glad you like it, TT. It’s for you after all.”

Toni’s eyes snapped to hers, wide and unsure.

 _That look_.

“This is for **me** , Cher? I can keep this?”

**_She’s such a pure soul, Little Bird._ **

Cheryl nodded, a breathy chuckle passing through her lips.

“Yes, TT. Of course. It took me so long to finish because I wanted it to be perfect.”

Toni looked back to the page.

“Cheryl, it is. I love it. You are… Cher, you’re **_so_** talented. I mean you talk about art and you sound like an expert but _this_ , actually _doing it_.” She raised her eyes to Cheryl’s, “Cher, please tell me you’re gonna pursue this in your life? I wanna photograph your first exhibition and walk around galleries in Europe and listen to you tell me all about the pieces.” Toni croaked tiredly, flipping the sketchbook closed.

Cheryl breathed in raggedly, overwhelmed by the painful gripping at her chest.

_You’re inspiring, Cheryl._

_She’s **it** , little one._

She took a deep breath, her lips pulling into a grin.

**Control** **.**

“Pose naked for me, and be my muse?” She added, taking the book from Toni’s hands and placing it on the vanity.

Toni smirked.

“You’ve got plenty of pictures of me naked already, you pervert.”

Cheryl reached out to take Toni’s hands in hers, rubbing her thumbs across her knuckles. Spying some stray red at her temple she reached up a pale hand and wiped at it gently.

_Touch._

“I would very much like to draw pictures of you for the rest of our lives, TT.”

The implications of her words did not appear to scare Toni as much as genuinely delight her.

Ever the fearless little soldier.

“I would like that too, Cher.”

**Stability.**

**Security.**

“So, are you excited about the party on Friday, TT? I’m preparing to outdo myself.” Cheryl smirked, biting onto her bottom lip as she tugged Toni’s hands around her waist and pulled her into a hug, resting her cheek against the top of Toni’s head.

“Hell yeah, I am.” Toni mumbled against her collarbone, small hands gripping into the back of her robe. “But where is Nana Rose gonna go?”

Cheryl smiled.

**_Pure soul._ **

“There are many properties within the Blossom estate in which she can spend the night. We can put her to bed before the first partygoers even arrive.”

She felt Toni nod against her shoulder.

“Pretty appropriate that we started our relationship at a party and now we’re gonna end the semester together at another one, huh?” She sighed.

Cheryl stroked a hand over her hair.

“I thought we started our relationship in the rec room. I specifically remember asking you to be my girlfriend there, TT.”

“Yeah, after I _told_ you to.”

Cheryl laughed.

“Regardless of where, TT. We started a _life_ together. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Toni gripped her tighter.

“I definitely would, Cher. Almost as if it’s all under control, huh?”

Cheryl closed her eyes, a smile widening across her face as she stood embraced with the girl she loved and pressed a tender kiss to pink curls.

“Utterly.”

**Control _._**

 

 

 


	45. Picture Perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO! I've been very fucking busy and that's all there is to it. Also, in a way, very reluctant to finish this fic, but I'll save the soppy shit for the final chapter. THIS IS NOT THE END. This is the penultimate. The NEXT chapter will be the last of Scuff. To those of you still reading, wow get a life. But also, thank you so so much. I hope you enjoy this and stay tuned for the final chapter coming soon.
> 
> Peace and much love.  
> ps - fluffy af.

 

 

 

Cheryl watched as the morning sun caught itself across the rounded caramel of Toni’s cheek, streams of light kissing through the pink curls of her hair to bounce prettily from her face and into the awaiting adoration of Cheryl’s willing eyes.

Definitive _perfection_.

She drifted her gaze over twitching eyelids, down to perfect lips that lay slackened in their slumber save for the slightest, most delicate upward turning of the corners. Ridged and soft and plump and beautiful.

Cheryl smiled, biting lightly onto her own.

Smooth jaw. Doughy cheeks. A light sprinkling of tan darkening across her nose and hairline, seeping a slow, sloping sand bar of a shoreline into the browning roots of her sea of pink hair.

She flicked her eyes to the freckle on Toni’s top lip, marvelling at its expertise in adding such demure and picturesque character to her face. She loved it. Cheryl utterly adored it. Such a small, minute little blip of honest detail.

The picture was simply not complete without it.

She could paint a thousand portraits of the goddess beside her over time, each more exquisite and masterful than the last, but the omission of said tiny freckle above Toni’s perfect bow mouth would forbid her true _essence_ from ever being captured. Cheryl was certain she’d never love anyone’s face in the same way again. No bare lip could ever suffice.

Her own lips tugged further across her face as she reached the pad of a pale finger into the inches of space between them and drifted the skin against it gently.

_The picture **is**_ _complete, Little Bird._

**_The picture is complete._ **

Cheryl swallowed, the flicker of a shadow glinting in her eyes as the thickness of her curtains caught a light wind and blew an eclipse across the morning sun.

Toni pushed a light sigh through her nose.

Cheryl’s heart fluttered.

She lifted her hand slowly to brush a curled strand of hair from Toni’s face, flattening her warm palm to stroke it and cup the back of her sleeping head.

She looked down at Toni’s mouth with adoring eyes, inching her face closer.

She parted her lips, her voice barely reaching above that of a shy exhale of breath.

“I’m going to love you _forever_.”

Stability.

Security.

**Control.**

Chery felt it sweeping through her veins.

But this time it was different.

No more was she yearning to control her life, her future, her lust.

No more was she restraining her true feelings so fiercely.

No more was she sitting, gazing from a distance with legs clamped and fists tight and fingers pumping desperately at night to feel some _semblance_ of hegemony, of pragmatic peace.

To feel herself.

For now, she lay, reclining in dewy, warm slumber with her love.

_Touch_.

She basked. She lounged, tightly pressed to the soft figure of Toni Topaz, two bodies forming one tented entity beneath the bed sheets in true, unrestricted **_serenity_**.

Now, Cheryl _reigned **.**_

She and She in timeless bliss.

**_Perfection_.**

She traversed the last of the millimetres between them and closed her eyes, pushing her mouth to Toni’s in a heavy kiss and sighing, contentment seeping from her pores.

A groan crowed out from beneath her, a small body pushing a tired protest against her own and Cheryl grinned against her lips, sucking another peck to them.

“Good morning, TT.” She whispered.

Toni’s voice croaked a harsh slur as she revved its sleepy engine timbre to life.

“If it’s before nine, _again_ , Cheryl, I’m **fucking** breaking up with you.”

Cheryl rolled her eyes, winding her fingers into Toni’s hair and tugging at the roots, smirking as she earned a groan against her lips.

“Your words sting, truly.” She drawled, kissing Toni softly and catching a lip between her teeth, “But they lack intent, I feel.”

Toni grunted.

“Fine, then I’ll just move rooms.”

Cheryl smiled, nudging Toni’s face to the side with her nose and planting a slow peck to her cheek.

“And wherever you do go, TT. Rest assured I shall follow.”

_The picture is complete._

**_Control_.**

The cool wind of a deep inhale swept against Cheryl’s shoulder as Toni sucked in a breath, stretching her little arms and arching her chest into Cheryl’s side. Her eyes fluttered open finally and she squinted against the light, blinking herself awake.

Cheryl caught sight of her brown eyes, the opaque blackness of her iris’ illuminating to amber in the streams of sunlight and glinting prettily as she stared at Cheryl in silent appreciation.

White fingers combed paths through Toni’s hair, neat furrows ploughing way for a light scalp beneath and Cheryl smiled. She thought of how Toni had dyed it freshly to present herself to Jason upon first meeting. She thought of fresh flowers laid akimbo across a grave by gentle, respectful hands. She thought of those hands taking hers and walking with her through a wheat field to the shelter of the trees. Those hands leading her _home_. Sheer warmth. Consideration and compassion without judgement. A lavender scented, tranquil bath of understanding. The garbage bags taped to windows of her mind with a flimsiness that now scared her not. A river that, today, stole her breath with beauty not with current. An arrow shot straight from the heart. An earthen, citrus sharpness cutting through the yeasted aroma of beer to meld together as two perfect opposites and provide the backdrop to a party that witnessed the melding of two _other_ perfect opposites. Fated to be made. A moan and a cookie. A dropped pen. Soft whispers and unspoken initiatives; clandestinely planted in her mind by encouraging squeezes and compliments muttered beneath blankets and over the sounds of rain to push her to find herself.

To _be_ herself.

To be free.

To paint her _own_ future.

Life imitating **Art**.

She sighed, draping her eyes across Toni’s face.

“Gorgeous.”

Toni smirked.

“Even this early in the morning? Damn, I must be hot.”

Cheryl rolled her eyes.

“You’re certainly a sight for sore eyes at any hour, TT. But I wasn’t actually referring to your _exterior_.”

Toni’s smile softened, a tanned hand reaching up to smooth a finger over Cheryl’s shoulder.

“I love you, Cher.”

Cheryl rolled her eyes a second time.

“No you don’t.” She teased, “You love compliments.”

She shifted, lifting herself to sit higher on her pillow and slipped an arm around the back of Toni’s neck, laying onto her back and staring down dotingly as Toni tilted her head up to meet her gaze.

Peace.

“I’m in love with you.” Cheryl pledged, her thumb stroking a slow rhythm to Toni’s clavicle.

Toni’s big eyes lay open and tender.

“For real, Cher-Bear?”

The hint of a smirk played at her lips.

Cheryl mirrored it upon her own mouth.

“Utterly, TT.”

Toni adjusted her cheek against the pillow and grinned.

“Sweet.”

A pure soul.

Cheryl leaned down, curling her arm to bring Toni closer, and pressed her face into the crook of her brown neck, nuzzling her nose to the skin and taking in a deep inhale of Toni’s warm scent, chasing her fix like the addict she was.

She let out her breath in a low, satisfied groan, feeling Toni’s hand rubbing slowly against her back, and pecked the skin softly as she pulled away.

She paused, nudging the tip of Toni’s nose with her own and meeting her in a kiss.

Toni hummed approvingly, scratching her nails along Cheryl’s back.

“Ouch, TT. Careful.” Cheryl hissed, feeling her scrape over the fresh marks Toni had made in the heat of the moment last night.

An apology was grunted into the side of her cheek as Toni pushed her face against it.

Silence for a moment.

“I wanna get a pet.”

Cheryl scoffed.

“Absolutely not, Toni. The furniture in this house alone is worth more than the entire maple syrup empire. We can’t have an animal tearing it up.”

Toni wriggled against her, soft lips tickling the side of Cheryl’s mouth as she spoke.

“No, I’m not talking about right now. I mean eventually.”

Cheryl wound her fingers idly in the ends of Toni’s hair and flicked her eyes over the blanched white of her bedroom ceiling.

“TT, I just explained-”

“No, Cher. In the _future_.”

Cheryl’s fingers stopped still and she blinked, her arm stiffening beneath Toni’s head.

Future.

The future.

Toni was talking about the future.

Thinking about the future.

_Planning_ for the future.

Her skin prickled.

“The future?” Cheryl managed to whisper.

She felt Toni nod against her face.

“Our future, Cher.”

Our future.

_Our future, Little One._

Heather had once intoned such gorgeous words to her, had affirmed the same promise of a journey forward together.

_‘Our future is beautiful, Cheryl.’_

It’s decimation by her own mother’s hand had ruined all hope of what lay ahead for her.

Until now.

Our future.

“Cher?”

Cheryl shifted, not ready to look at her.

“You think about our future, Toni?”

Toni shrugged.

“Of course.”

Our future.

“Often?”

_Our_ future.

“All the time, Cher. Don’t you?”

Cheryl, as she often seemed to find herself around this girl, was speechless.

“I don’t really think about the future at all, TT.”

Toni let out a soft breath.

“So, wherever we are, when we move outta Riverdale, we can get a shitty couch and then it doesn’t matter if it gets torn up.”

Cheryl protested in disgust but the small smile on her lips belied it.

**_When we move outta Riverdale._ **

“We’re having King Louis’ chaise from the drawing room downstairs, Toni, and that is not up for debate.”

“Cheryl, weirdly, I’m not a fucking antiques expert. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Cheryl rolled her eyes.

“The ‘couch’ by the fireplace that I adore. With the red upholstery and rounded feet.”

“No idea.”

“The one with the large _boot mark_ scuffed onto it.”

“By me?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. Right.”

Cheryl leaned down to press a slow kiss to Toni’s forehead.

“That chaise is part of _our future_ too, TT.”

She felt Toni’s cheeks bulge against her throat in a smile.

“I’m ok with that.” A warm kiss touched Cheryl’s jaw. “And my grandpa’s vase.”

Cheryl raised her eyebrows fondly.

“The one with the beautiful Uktena markings?”

Toni nodded against her neck.

“I put those flowers you gave me in it. They’re dead now, but it looked pretty. So we’re keeping that too.”

Cheryl drifted a hand down Toni’s back to her favourite familiar resting place on Toni’s rear, giving the cheek a light squeeze.

“I’ll get you more flowers, TT. I promise I won’t ever stop giving you flowers.”

She watched the left side of Toni’s mouth twitch upwards in a smile and felt nimble fingers curling red hair behind her ear.

They stared for a moment, the weight of Thistlehouse’s memories creaking at the floorboards.

“They’d better not be shitty flowers you stole from your mom’s garden, though. I want fancy, _expensive_ flowers.

Cheryl’s eyes crinkled at the corners as she laughed, her rumbled chuckle passing through into Toni’s chest.

“You’ll take what you’re given and you’ll _like_ it. So **rude** _._ ”

Cheryl raised the hand on Toni’s backside and slapped the cheek playfully in chastisement, feeling a thrill shoot through her arm as the skin clapped beneath her palm and the smack resounded around the silence of the room. Her laugh died on her lips and her breath fixed in her chest as she caught Toni’s gaze, watching as her pupils dilated and her eyes grew darker, her throat bobbing in a tense swallow as she groaned quietly and bit her lip.

Fuck.

Interesting.

The grandfather clock from the hallway sounded out its chimes upon the hour and they shifted next to each other, the thick tension in the air dissipating with each beat of its bell.

Toni cleared her throat.

“Seriously though, Cheryl. Why am I awake?”

Cheryl tutted, rolling Toni onto her back and slipping on top of her, pushing a thigh between her legs with a sigh.

“Such uncouth impatience, Minou.”

“ _Cheryl_.”

“Because I have something planned for us, Toni…”

She watched as the cogs of confusion ticked away behind Toni’s eyes and laughed, leaning down to peck her lips.

“… with the epic celebrations taking place at Thistlehouse tonight, and much preparation still to be done, I saw it best that we got to it early.”

 Toni shook her head.

“So many words for literally no explanation, Cher.”

Cheryl bit her lip, leaning up on her forearms.

“Get dressed, TT. I’m going to teach you how to use a bow and arrow.”

 

 

 

 

“Well why do I have to use your bow from when you were a kid?”

“Because it’s smaller, TT.”

“So?”

“So you’re shorter than me and it’s more conducive to your arm span.”

“Whatever.”

“Now, your feet are excellent. Bravo, kitten. So, keep them there, and twist your body to the side.”

“This way?”

“No… to face the target, Toni.”

“Oh right, because of the dominant eye thing.”

“Yes… and the fact that you have to hit the _target_.”

“Look, Cher, I don’t mind bossy but I’m not taking patronising, ok?”

“Calmez-vous, Cherie. I am the teacher you will do as I say.”

“You’ll regret teaching me when I shoot you in your sleep.”

“I’m ignoring that. Ok, take the arrow… that’s it… and place it on the bowstring… oh _perfect_ , TT… now…”

Cheryl stepped forward, flipping her mane of hair over her shoulder and feeling her shoes press gently into the lush rough of summer grass beneath them. She moved slowly, pressing her hips into Toni’s backside and resting her chest to Toni’s back, sliding her hand along the soft skin of a tanned arm to support it.

She pressed her head to the side of Toni’s.

“Now lift, TT, slowly, that’s it.” She whispered, watching as Toni raised the bow, “Keep your arm slightly bent and don’t grip the bow, just let it rest in your hand gently. I know how gentle your hands can be, Toni.” She smiled as Toni’s chuckle vibrated through her back.

She slid her hands down to rest on Toni’s waist.

_Touch._

“Focus on the target. See nothing else. Head and arm and arrow tip all aligned to hit _that_ target. Visualize the distance; calculate the height of your arm…” Cheryl watched as a summer breeze rustled at the surrounding maple trees and blew pink hair lightly from Toni’s face, “account for wind speed… and concentrate.”

She began to rub her hands soothingly up and down the toned muscles of Toni’s sides, thumbs dipping languidly into the grooves of her ribs and she leaned down to press a kiss to the exposed skin of Toni’s shoulder, closing her eyes.

_God_ she loved her.

**Perfection.**

She inhaled the fresh smell of her hair and felt the sun beating down on their faces and realized that she had never in her life been so happy to be alive.

To spend a morning in the sun with her love.

To be free.

_The picture is complete._

She opened her eyes again, nudging some of Toni’s hair to the side with her nose to press her lips to her ear.

“Place all your focus on that target, TT. No distractions. Do you see it?”

Toni was quiet for a moment and Cheryl watched the concentration etching itself slowly on her face like the careful precision of a sculptor’s chisel.

“I see _you_.”

Cheryl let out a breathy laugh through her nose.

“You want to shoot me that badly, TT?”

Toni’s lips crept up one side of her face.

“I see you because when I look at you, you’re **all** I see. _No distractions._ Shut up, it’s helping.”

Cheryl’s chest fluttered wildly.

“So string back, _slowly_ , all the way to your pretty face, TT. That’s it, now **hold**.”

She felt Toni’s stomach muscles stiffened tensely beneath her fingertips and she swallowed, flicking through the pages of her mind to reference the articulation of her intentions best.

She had never, in her life, shared with anyone the secret internal freedom and joy she achieved from using her bow. Not even with Jason. The sheer restorative, soothing, healing power that it had provided to her on so many occasions when her life had grown dark and nothing but the thud of an arrow into wood could cure her of ailments that would, to any other child, have been tended to by the kind words of a mother.

She barely knew how to communicate the raw emotion she felt for it.

But who better to share it with, she mused, as Toni’s hair peeled back from her face and her teeth sank into her lower lip. Who better to share it with than _her_.

“There is little else in this world more freeing and powerful and joyous, TT, than the experience you are about to enjoy. Very little else. The sheer power of mastering an arrow will stay with you for all your life. At least, to me, it’s that important.”

She watched Toni nod.

“Toni, in fact, I confess… the only thing more wonderful and heady that I’ve felt in all my life is love. And _you_.”

Toni swallowed, her chest filling with air as she appeared to try to control her smile.

“Are you ready?”

Toni nodded again, determined.

“The sun’s in my eyes.”

Cheryl smiled, lifting her hand to cup her fingers above Toni’s brow and shield them from the light.

“Better?”

“Yeah.”

She moved her lips back to Toni’s ear.

“Keep it in line with your heart. The centre of your chest, that’s it. Point your arm where you wish for it to go and take a deep breath in…” She felt Toni’s back expand against her front, “…and out. From the heart, Toni. The arrow always leaves from the heart. On the count of three, TT.”

Toni closed one eye, shoulders relaxing.

“1… 2… 3…”

Cheryl felt a rush of vicarious adrenaline run through her body as Toni released the string, watching it soar through the air to land stiffly into the bottom right corner of the target.

**_Control._ **

“Oh my god, Cher. I hit it.”

Cheryl pressed a kiss to her cheek, pulling her into her chest.

“You did, TT. And what a beautiful shot for your first try.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“It does feel good. I see why you like it, Cher. Cathartic, kinda. Like…”

“… you’re in control?”

Toni squinted in thought, licking her lips.

“Yeah. Control.”

Cheryl’s heart leapt.

“Let’s try one together.”

She clasped her hand over Toni’s on the bow, positioning their arms with expert ease and pushed their heads together, her free arm encircled tightly around Toni’s waist.

“Pull back…” She instructed softly, closing one of her eyes, her mind flashing back to that day at the lunch bench with Veronica.

“…from the heart, TT. Deep breath.”

They breathed in sync.

_It’s so potent the way she looks at you._

“…Now, release on 1...”

**_Such human emotion, Cheryl._ **

“…2…”

She envisaged the path of Veronica’s finger as it had come to point just above her heart.

“…3…”

Toni released the arrow for a second time and Cheryl watched, transfixed, as it ploughed through the air from their joined hands, cutting through space in mere milliseconds before it smacked with pinpoint accuracy into the centre of the board.

_‘The way she looks at you, Cheryl. It just looks like…’_

Toni turned to her, dark eyebrows raised on her pretty face, her eyes glinting with a lust for life that energised Cheryl’s very _soul_ and grinned, her perfect white teeth peeling into sight.

“Holy shit, Cher. Bullseye.”

Cheryl swallowed, her heart suddenly blossoming from her chest.

**_Bullseye._ **

Bullseye, indeed, Little Bird.

“Yes, Toni.” She whispered, raising a hand to cup her cheek. “Bullseye.”

Toni’s eyes flicked between hers intently, the bow dropping to the ground as she placed her arms around Cheryl’s neck and leaned up to catch her lip between hers.

Cheryl sighed into the kiss, running her hands along Toni’s arms.

“Have I ever told you how much I love your arms, TT?” She murmured against her lips, squeezing the muscles beneath her hands, “So slim and feminine and toned. Perfect.”

Toni laughed, raising her brow.

“That so, huh?” She smirked, biting her lip as she glanced down at Cheryl’s, “You just wait ‘til I’m older, Cher. Get a few tattoos on them.”

Cheryl felt her blood pressure drop through her feet to reside in the circle of hell reserved for the sinners afflicted with overwhelming **_lust_**.

She swallowed dryly, her legs begging to squeeze together.

“Really?” She whispered shakily.

Toni chuckled, brushing their noses as she nodded.

“Uh-huh. Not just my arms either.”

Fuck.

Cheryl moved her hands down to slip her fingers into the waistband of Toni’s jeans and stepped backwards, her eyes dark and her lips parted as she tugged Toni along with her.

“Hey, woah. What about archery, Cheryl?”

“Later.”

“Cher, we have to set up for the party-”

“ _Later_.”

Toni laughed, taking her hand, and Cheryl saw nothing but her.

“You’ll be the death of me, Cheryl Blossom.”

**_Bullseye._ **

_The picture is complete._

 

 

 


End file.
